


Time War

by AHopefulVoice



Category: Doctor Who, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. References, Alternate Season/Series 04, F/M, Gen, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Pete's World, Post-Episode: s02e13 Doomsday, Post-Season/Series 09, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Pre-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Pre-Season/Series 04, SHIELD, Torchwood - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2016-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-28 17:50:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2741549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AHopefulVoice/pseuds/AHopefulVoice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Life on Earth is hella boring." - Sent to act as a liaison between Torchwood and S.H.I.E.L.D., Rose Tyler lucks into finding some of the most brilliant minds in the entire universe to help her find her way home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This a little something I've been working on for a while, and thought I would post some to see what reactions I'd get before I pour my heart into it. It's pre-season 4 (DW), runs side by side with AOS season 1, pre-Winter Soldier. I started this before I'd seen TWS, so I don't want things to get confused in my head if I try to work out my plans with that film.
> 
> Anyway, tags will be updated with each chapter so I don't spoil anything. I have some tricks up my sleeves. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
>  

“Life on Earth is hella boring,” said Tony Stark, stepping down from the platform atop Stark Tower, impatiently waiting for his computer systems to disassemble his suit.

“Not the way I see it,” replied the woman following him, a thin woman with short, red hair. “Not now that every alien race has decided to make a punching bag out of us.”

“Oh, come on, Romanov,” Stark said as he rolled his eyes, “you literally just proved my point in your own sentence. ‘Alien race?’ Yeah, don’t have many aliens on Earth.”

“Technically, any sort of foreigner is an alien.”

Stark sighed and turned to the hero in blue. “Thank you, Captain Obvious. And, y’know, that includes you. You belong on another planet, not to mention another time period. Look at us; we’re like the freaking dream team of superheroes. I mean, we are the Avengers. Never mind, forget I said anything.”

As soon as the present four heroes entered Stark Tower--now referred to as the Avengers Tower--they were surprised to see none other than Director Nick Fury waiting rather impatiently at the counter.

“Nick, my cycloptic friend!” exclaimed Tony, clapping Fury on the back as he passed the man on his way to pour himself a drink. “Long time no see! And I mean that in the best possible way.”

Steve was less than amused by Tony’s amiability. His back straight, Steve approached Fury. “Director Fury,” he began, “do you have a mission for us?”

“Not this time. At least, not like you might think. An organization from Great Britain has been poking around our systems for a few months now, ever since the Battle of New York. IT’s grown tired of having to rewrite their firewalls, so we’ve invited a representative from this organization to act as a liaison between SHIELD and--”

“Torchwood,” interrupted Tony.

Fury sighed. “Are you even going to pretend you didn’t know that?”

“No. I, too, noticed their little expeditions. I tried to do some digging but couldn’t find much. Although now that I’ve got a definitive reason to look into it, I’ll look into it.”

Natasha leaned on the counter. “When are we meeting their representative?”

Fury looked at his watch. “In about three minutes.”

Stark groaned. “It just so happens that I have a very important meeting with a very important person about very important things in two minutes, so I’m afraid I’ll have to miss.”

“The jig’s up, babe,” called Pepper from where she was seated on the sofa, mindlessly scrolling across her tablet. She didn’t even look at him. “He asked me to clear your empty schedule.”

“Damn. Well, it was worth a shot.”

Clint Barton snapped open his bow, gaining Fury’s attention. “This is a peaceful meeting,” said their boss. “No need for hostility. Though I would appreciate someone going to get in touch with Jane Foster. Maybe she knows something about this Torchwood Institute, since she now lives over there.” Barton nodded, leaving the room. “And tell her to tell Thor that the honeymoon phase is over! I expect him back by the end of the week.”

“Gotcha,” Barton shouted from down the hall.

Tony groaned and dropped his head back. “Why do we have to do this?” he whined. “Why can’t I just hack into Torchwood’s systems and do it the easy way?”

Fury rolled his eye(s, presumably). “Because she’s already on her way here.”

“Indeed, sir,” said JARVIS.

“Thank you, JARVIS,” said Tony. He walked closer to Fury. “She? You never mentioned it was a woman.”

“You could at least _pretend_ to realize that I was in the room,” Pepper said, still refusing to look up from her tablet.

Just then, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. “Ms. Tyler,” said Fury, walking over to the elevator, extending his hand to the woman exiting. She was blonde, well-dressed, and younger than was to be expected.

She took his hand and shook it with a gracious smile. “Director Fury, it is so nice to speak with you in person.” Sure enough, she spoke with a proper English accent that reminded Steve of Peggy.

“Let me introduce the crown jewel of SHIELD--what we like to call the Avengers Initiative.” Fury gestured to the rest of the group. “Tony Stark, his CEO Pepper Potts, Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanov. Our other agent, Clint Barton, is off contacting another liaison of ours, Jane Foster.”

“Oh, yes,” Rose said, “I met Jane last month at a work thing. Pete--my father--took me to a Vitex luncheon, and Jane was the keynote speaker. She’s very good.”

Tony narrowed his eyes as she spoke, and when she finished, he smacked himself on the forehead and immediately crossed to her, taking one of her hands in his and kissing her knuckles. “Miss Rose Tyler,” he said, “I had no idea you were going to be our liaison with Torchwood.” He looked at his friends. “Come on, guys, this is Rose Tyler, of Vitex fame.”

She flushed, and Steve said, “Vitex, as in the drinks?”

Rose grew even redder and nodded. Before she could say anything, Tony continued, “I am still amazed how you managed to disappear off the face of the earth for the first twenty-one years of your life. Then again, one of our buddies is a Norse god from another planet, so I guess nothing should surprise me anymore.”

“Yes, it was quite a lifestyle,” Rose agreed with a smile, but it was very clear that she was used to keeping her private life close to the chest. “Well, let’s get to business, shall we? I’m feeling rather tired from the flight and would like to retire soon, if that’s alright.”

“Fine by me,” said Natasha. “I just want a long soak in a tub to get the alien guts off of me.”

That got Rose’s attention. “I’m sorry?”

“We were fighting these brown, toothy aliens all afternoon in Times Square,” Steve explained. “Savage guys with no hair. Don’t worry; they’re all taken care of.”

Rose perked up. “Did they come from the sewers?”

The Avengers exchanged looks before nodding and mumbling, “Yeah.”

She grinned. “They’re Weevils! God, I hate those things. They’re basically harmless--I mean, they’re killers an’ they rip people’s throats out with their teeth, but compared to other aliens, they’re easy to get rid of. Just like roaches. I’ll get Jake to send over some Weevil spray, then you won’t have to deal with ‘em as much.”

There was a brief silence before Natasha said, “Are you, like, an expert on aliens or something?”

Rose bit down on her lip for a minute. “Um, a bit, yeah.”

Tony smiled widely. “Can she stay forever? She’ll be great on the team. Rose, welcome to the Avengers.”

She gave them a smile, but shook her head. “I have my own missions with Torchwood, including one very important personal project, so this is just going to be a quick meeting before I get back on the plane to London tomorrow evening.” She paused, then her grin grew. “Besides, I doubt I’d pass SHIELD’s background screenings. They wouldn’t be able to find enough about me.”

Tony brightened. “Challenge accepted!”

Natasha rolled her eyes and widened her stance, clasping her hands behind her back--a neutral, yet controlling position. “What exactly does Torchwood do? How will we be working together?”

Just then, Barton walked back into the room. “Thor and Jane weren’t very thrilled at being woken up at a late hour. Torchwood’s just a security firm,” he said, clearly not having noticed Rose’s presence. Steve cleared his throat, drawing Clint’s attention to the new blonde in the room. “Agent Clint Barton, SHIELD.” He offered his hand to her, and she shook it firmly.

“Agent Rose Tyler, Torchwood,” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Why does a private security firm have agents?” asked Steve. “And how do you know about aliens?”

“Let Scully talk,” Tony said. Steve’s forehead crinkled; Tony, understanding the look of confusion, sighed, “I’ll explain it later.”

“I assume SHIELD has at least level eight clearance with UNIT?” Rose asked. Fury nodded, and Rose continued, “The Torchwood Institute, founded by Queen Victoria, acts as a sort of intermediary between the citizens of Earth and visitors from other planets. The most popular place for alien activity is Cardiff in Wales, though our headquarters is in London. We scan for alien technology, anticipate any contact, and take preemptive measures to determine if the visitors are a threat. If they are not humanoid, we try to keep them out of public eye, but otherwise let them carry on, so long as they check in with us every few days.”

Steve held up his hands. “Wait a minute; there are aliens that look like humans?”

“Come on, Gramps,” said Tony, “keep up. You’ve seen Thor and his asshole of a brother. They look pretty damn human to me.”

“I’m sorry?” Rose interjected.

“Our buddies from Asgard. You know, Thor and Loki, the Norse gods?” She shook her head. “What, do you live under a rock or something?”

“Tony,” Natasha groaned.

Rose’s smile tightened. “Like you said yourself, Mr. Stark, I stayed out of the public eye for quite some time. Things slip by you when you’re avoiding the rest of the world.”

Tony gave a low whistle. “Damn.”

Pepper stood from the couch, holding her tablet to her stomach. “Mr. Stark, if it is alright with you, I think I’m going to go home for the evening.” Tony groaned, knowing that this was Pepper’s way of telling him that he needed to step away from the situation and return later.

“Yeah, babe,” he returned, “I’ll be with you in a bit. I’m getting to know my new friend here. Just think, if we took a photo and put it on Instagram, the paparazzi would have a field day. Tony Stark and Rose Tyler--we’d blow up the Internet.” Pepper sighed and left the room.

Fury cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to have word with Ms. Potts. Ms. Tyler,” he acknowledged with a nod before exiting the room, leaving Rose Tyler alone with five of the Avengers.

Tony was the first to break the silence. “I’m serious about this selfie thing.”

Rose smiled politely. “Maybe another time, Mr. Stark.”

“Please, call me Tony.”

Natasha groaned.

* * *

Rose folded the pillow over her ears, refusing to be drawn from her dreams of better times, but that insistent beeping would not stop. She squeezed her eyes tightly for a moment before opening them, surprised that the room was still dark. She had expected it to be daybreak.

Pushing the covers off her, Rose swung her legs to the floor and stood, picking up her dressing gown and wrapping it around her. Looking at the sliver of light peeking through into the room from beneath the door, Rose grabbed her handbag and pulled out her taser. She hated using guns but would never go unarmed.

Her bare feet were silent against the floor as she left the guest room and started heading towards the lounge two floors below. The concrete in the industrial stairwell was cold against her feet, but she remained silent. Once she pushed open the door to the floor she was aiming for, Rose picked up her pace.

She checked around the corner before entering the lounge; the coast was clear. As soon as she walked through, however, she ran smack into someone else. “Fuck!” the person exclaimed. He flipped the light switch by Rose’s shoulder, illuminating the room. It was Tony Stark, his arc reactor glowing through his t-shirt. He looked at the taser in her hands. “Not you, too.”

“What the hell is going on?” asked Rose.

“That’s a good question,” said Natasha, walking in from behind Rose with Clint.

Tony shrugged. “JARVIS set off the systems. I was asleep. Good thing the Jolly Green Giant’s back in the middle of nowhere again.”

“He went to Jersey,” said Steve, entering from the way Tony came in.

“Exactly.”

A tall figure emerged from the shadows with something in his bulky arms. “Maybe I can shed some light on all of this, if you agree to assist me.”

Rose could hear the jaws drop as the room grew unimaginably silent.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter II_

A large figure stepped out into the light, a smaller, thinner person draped in his arms. Everyone focused on the large, blonde man first, not even noticing the unconscious person.

"Thor!" Natasha and Steve exclaimed simultaneously.

"Where have you been?" asked Tony. "SHIELD had to send in a team to clean up your mess in England, by the way. Way to go on that one, big guy."

"It is a long story," Thor said. "I did not mean for us to startle you. I had to get us here the best I could."

"Us?" repeated Steve. "Is that Miss Foster?"

Thor grimaced. "No. It is my brother. He is in need of help."

Rose watched as each of the faces surrounding her fell. There were a few seconds of silence before the room erupted in protests. "No!"

"Oh, hell no-"

"-not in my tower-"

"-he shouldn't even be on this planet!"

Rolling her eyes, Rose clapped her hands twice. Everyone stopped talking and looked at her. "Sorry," she murmured. "My mum does it with my brother."

"Who is this?" asked Thor.

"Rose Tyler," Tony supplied. "SHIELD's liaison with the Torchwood Institute. Can you please tell us why your insane ass brother is here? Just because Banner's in Jersey doesn't mean I can't get him over here real fast to Hulk smash him into the floor again. Or maybe let Hawkeye get a good look at him."

Barton grunted in recognition.

"My brother was in grave danger," Thor said. "It is a long story. Is there an infirmary we can put him in?" Natasha looked at Tony briefly before jerking her head for Thor to follow with Loki. "Thank you."

As they passed by, Rose got a good look at the unconscious man's face. He was thin, pale, and looked to be sleeping peacefully. But having lived with the Doctor for two years told Rose that things were not always what they seemed, if what Stark and the others had said earlier about Thor and his brother was true.

While Natasha led Thor and Loki to the infirmary, Tony went and poured himself a drink. Steve sat on the sofa, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at where the coffee table met the floor. Barton paced, fingers twitching like he wanted to be shooting things. Rose stood awkwardly and watched, waiting for the moment when things would start to make sense.

This was supposed to be a normal business trip. Nothing involving aliens or superheroes.

Rose wasn't entirely sure she was upset about it.

Life at Torchwood had been busy and harsh for her. She made frequent trips back to Norway, studied sciences she'd never even heard of before the Doctor, and made an appointment for a consultation with Dr. Jane Foster next week. If anyone would know how to get back to the Doctor, it was the woman who had made a wormhole.

Clint drops his head back and groans, breaking the silence. "I really thought I'd never see him again."

"We all did," said Steve. "Although I can't say I blame you."

"Why?" Rose asked before she could stop herself.

Steve and Clint exchange looks, then Steve says, "Loki is the God of Mischief. He came to Earth from Asgard to try and take over, and possessed Clint in order to get the Tesseract. One of our friends was murdered, but we managed to stop him."

"Can you imagine what Phil would say if he were here?" snorted Stark. "I hate that punk."

"Phil?" asked Rose.

"No," Stark said, "Loki."

Moments later, Natasha returned with Thor at her heels. Clint looked directly at Thor and said, "When I talked to Jane earlier, I assumed you were with her in London."

"In her bed," corrected Stark beneath his breath.

Thor shook his head. "I received an important message from Heimdall earlier today about my father. He had collapsed in the middle of the Midsummer Feast. The Einherjar assumed it was the untimely arrival of the Odinsleep, but as soon as he hit the floor, the illusion was shattered and the King was revealed to be Loki in disguise. Heimdall did not understand how my brother could have hidden from his Sight. He would have left me out of the situation per my own request if not for the blades immediately pointed at my brother's neck.

"And that was not the worst part. Moments after being dragged down to the cell he occupied previously, Loki began to rouse. He began bellowing things that were horrible, even for Loki. When I arrived, he was still shouting, something that is very uncharacteristic of my brother. His eyes were a piercing blue, his skin paler than I had ever seen. My brother was not himself. As soon as I tried to speak to him, Loki collapsed and began to seize.

"I broke into the cell and tried to stop it. When that did not work, I realized he must have been possessed. By whom or what I do not know. I knocked him unconscious just as the alarms began to sound, announcing that Asgard's defenses had been breached. I do not know who was making their way into our realm, but I assume they were after Loki. Sif and the Warriors Three left to lead our armies against the foe, and I escaped to the Observatory with Loki to take him anywhere safe. Heimdall must have sent us here, for we landed atop this tower. I opened the doors and set off the alarm." He paused, looking sheepish. "I am sorry for interrupting your slumber." It was just then that he noticed Rose. "Who is this?"

"'m Rose. Rose Tyler," she said. "I met Jane Foster at a Vitex event recently."

Thor smiled at her, but it turned grim soon after. Tony took the opportunity to butt in. "So what exactly do you want us to do, your highness? Revive your brother, save him from his bad dreams, and allow him to be king of our planet? I don't think so."

"All I ask is for you to help me to find out what is plaguing my brother," Thor said with a sigh and slumped shoulders. It was a humbling look on him. "I realize this must be the best place to have brought him. If anyone can help my brother, it must be the Avengers."

"The question is," began Steve, "should we?"

"I vote no," Clint said quickly. "He killed Coulson."

"I am asking for your help as a friend; not for my brother's sake, but for mine." Thor looked in the eyes of each person in the room before he spoke again. "Loki may be a murderer and a monster, but he is my brother, adopted or no."

Rose could feel the tension in the room like humidity. Wary glances were exchanged all around, prompting Rose to speak up. "If it makes any difference," she said meekly, "I had a friend once who would do anything to help someone, even if they were his greatest enemy. He had to offer them the choice to change for the better."

Tony sighed. "We're gonna regret this in the morning."

Thor brightened. "Do you mean it?"

Nodding, Natasha stood from the sofa and folded her arms across her chest. "Everyone deserves a second chance." Clint avoided her gaze but eventually gave in to look at her. "Even Loki. We'd better bring in the doctor immediately, and contact Fury."

"Uh, we'd better hold off on that," said Tony, raising a hand. "Fury and Loki aren't exactly on the same page. He did kill Coulson. I think we'd better keep this under wraps for a while."

"I agree," said Thor. "And I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"No need to get all mushy there, Romeo," Tony said, clapping Thor on the back. "We all know you're just a soft puppy in a big body." Looking at his watch, he added, "Looks like we need to hit the hay if we're gonna be up in time for our eight o'clock meeting with our lovely Torchwood representative."

Rose yawned, and was immediately on the receiving end of a wink from Tony. They all started to head back to their own rooms, with Rose reaching hers quickly. Her feet shuffled across the soft carpet as she walked to the bed and dropped onto it. The sheets were cold; Rose shivered as she wrapped herself up in the blankets.

If this were the TARDIS, the lovely ship would increase the temperature in the room so that Rose would be comfortable. Pete's World wasn't so nice. Rose had spent months scouring the internet for any sign of Time Lord activity in this world's history, but she didn't really know what she was looking for. The Doctor was never very open about his past, something that Rose regretted not asking about. He would make these off-hand comments that she always meant to go back to but never did. It was too late now.

She was stuck here-for good. If it hadn't been for Bad Wolf Bay, she might have hoped there was some way to get back to him, but she could hardly believe that anymore. All of her friends and family had looked into the research but nothing amounted. Rose was separated from the Doctor forever-not the kind of forever she promised him.

She still had nightmares about that day. Nearly every night Rose dreamed about blank white walls and ghosts on beaches. Just thinking about the ghost shift room made her feel sick. While that room in the parallel Torchwood was simply used for storage, Rose avoided any reason to go anywhere near that floor.

There were no blank walls in her flat back in London; she couldn't bear it. She had no mementos of her times with the Doctor save what she had on her person, so she did the best with what she could. There was a large Union Flag hanging on one wall (right-side up, of course), a Britney Spears poster on another (she still couldn't believe "Toxic" qualified as a classic Earth ballad but whatever). One wall in her living room was completely made up of floor to ceiling bookshelves. Most were empty, but she had started buying any Charles Dickens novel she could find, even if she already had a copy. Rose had taken to scribbling little messages to herself on any blank surface that struck her fancy: _bad wolf_ -a message to remind her of her goal.

With her eyes closed and her fingers curled up with the blankets under her chin, Rose could feel herself writing out the two words on Stark Tower itself. Only a phantom motion, of course, but telling nonetheless.

She missed the Doctor more than anything.

With thoughts of the TARDIS dematerializing and wolves howling, Rose drifted off to sleep once more.

* * *

 

"Torchwood is proposing a sort of alliance," Rose said, using her 'big girl' voice, as her mum called it. Sounding posh got a lot more done in this world than sounding like her chavvy self. "We will help with your alien visitors, provide any clean up assistance you may require, and will act as backup when on international soil. All we ask is for complete jurisdiction in Great Britain." At the raised eyebrows she got in response, Rose raised her hands and added, "I didn't create the terms, I'm just the messenger."

In fact, Rose thought Torchwood to be a bit shady, and probably would outright oppose it if not for her not-father, Pete. While she didn't trust SHIELD, at Torchwood Rose at least had trustworthy team members: Mickey, Jake, and her 'dad.'

"Why are you speaking to us instead of Fury?" asked Steve.

"Director Fury asked me to speak with you. As his lead operatives, he wanted your opinion."

Tony turned to Natasha and muttered, "And to keep me out of their computer systems." She rolled her eyes.

"I understand that since recent...um, _problems_ have arisen," she continued, looking at Thor briefly, "you may be hesitant to begin a new alliance, I can assure you that I am the best resource you could possibly have regarding extraterrestrial beings."

"Why?" asked Clint.

Rose nodded to acknowledge his question. Folding her hands in front of her, she answered, "I had a friend who was _the_ expert on alien life and he managed to pass on a great deal of his knowledge to me before he-was lost. If you fear attacks from outer space, I promise you that no one can help you more than Torchwood. We specialize in anything alien."

A cruel voice in the back of her mind reminded her, _"if it's alien, it's ours."_

Rose shook it off and waited for any sort of response. The meeting had been going for nearly an hour already and except for a few questions here and there, most of it had been Rose selling Torchwood's best attributes. Her mind kept drifting back to the arguments from the night before, about what to do with Loki. Were Torchwood involved, both Loki and Thor would be under constant supervision and study, but this was SHIELD and Rose had no idea how they handled things. Based on comments made, she suspected the two organizations had similar ideology if different means.

Maybe, if Rose managed to persuade SHIELD to work alongside Torchwood, Jane Foster could be convinced to help Rose find out how to get back to the Doctor.

Having realized she'd let her mind wander and the group members were now murmuring amongst themselves, Rose pulled in her focus and tried to gauge the thoughts in the room. She didn't have to wait long. After only a few moments of debate, Rose was pleased when Steve-the spokesperson of the group, it seemed-spoke up.

"We are willing to work with Torchwood, and since SHIELD is basing their opinion on ours, I think you have their support as well." Rose hadn't realized she was dealing with two different operations, and Steve sensed that. "We're members of the Avengers Initiative, and not strictly speaking a part of SHIELD."

Tony clapped his hands together. "And now we can get into the real business here: what to do about Prince Crazy."

"I would appreciate more respect towards my brother," said Thor, "as he is still a prince, no matter how fallen he may be."

"Look," said Natasha, "we get that Loki's your brother, but he did practically destroy this city. Sorry if we're a little hesitant to welcome him to the team." Thor nodded his acknowledgement, but Rose noticed his posture tense and his frown grow a little deeper.

Feeling awkward standing, Rose pulled out the chair in front of her and sat down. "I would be more than happy to offer any assistance I can while I'm here," she said, "even though I am supposed to be traveling back to London tonight."

"Banner's gonna be back in a little while," said Tony. "I'd like to have him put your information into my personal systems for greater access."

"Couldn't you do that yourself?" asked Clint.

"Yeah, but...y'know, effort," Tony said. "Banner'll do it and then I don't have to lift a finger. Perks of having science bros."

Thor brightened. "That is a familiar term to me. Darcy Lewis refers to me as her 'bro.' Congratulations on achieving such a relationship with the Angry One."

Tony rolled his eyes. "How is your brother doing anyway?"

"He is as well as can be under the circumstances. When I last checked on him, he was still unconscious. I fear he is only here physically."

"What the hell does that mean?" Clint rested his elbows on the table.

"In Asgard and the other Realms," answered Thor, "magic is a normal occurrence, though not commonplace. My brother was particularly skilled in creating duplicates of himself to avoid lessons or training. He was talented at expanding his own mind into separate consciousnesses of his own making, and I am afraid his real body is here but his mind is elsewhere. Combined with his unusual behavior and strangely colored eyes, I can only assume that my brother is not himself."

"'Not himself?' Do you mean possessed?" asked Steve.

Rose closed her eyes in thought before speaking. "There are loads of possible causes for a mental attack. Do you know of any telepathic people on Asgard? Or any chance your brother could have gotten an illness somewhere else?"

"How are you totally accepting of the whole concept of Asgard?" asked Tony. "It took me forever to come to grips with that."

Rose shrugged. "Like I said, I'm an alien expert. Nothing surprises me anymore."

"Have you, like, been to Mars or something?"

_"Tony-"_

"What?" he exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. "It's a perfectly valid question!"

Before anyone else could say anything, Rose interjected, "No, I haven't been to Mars. In fact," she added bitterly, "I've never been off this planet. But the concept of other worlds is not new to me. It makes more sense to think of Thor and his brother as aliens from another planet than gods. I'll have to look through Torchwood's databases for known telepathic species or diseases that could have possibly affected your brother. As soon as I find anything, I'll let you know."

Thor nodded, and despite having made arrangements to work with SHIELD, Rose felt, for the first time yet, the pressure of signing on to a new project. Hopefully it was one she could solve quickly and return to finding the Doctor.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter III_

With a shiver, Rose opened her eyes to the dimmed lights of the cabin. Fidgeting in her seat before adjusting her lap belt, she glanced down at her watch: half past four GMT. Rose groaned and adjusted her neck pillow, closing her eyes once more. She shivered again and crossed her arms tightly. Why did planes always have to be so bloody freezing?

Her (step- or adopted-) father was the head of a massive institution and she couldn't even use his private plane; at least her tickets were first class. Her mother always refused to fly first class, said it gave her "airs and graces" that she didn't deserve. Rose understood how her mum felt, but still thought it good to take advantage of their current situation. Then again, maybe that was Jackie Tyler's point.

Rose sank further down in her seat. She couldn't get the image of the SHIELD agents out of her mind, how they all turned on Thor and his brother only to change their minds. What would the Doctor tell them? That's what Rose found herself thinking every time she met a new alien individual or family or whatever-what would the Doctor do?

He would insist on helping Thor and his brother, that's what. The Doctor had destroyed his own planet and people; if there was anyone he could relate to, it was the black sheep of a family. There was no Doctor in this universe, so Rose would do the best she could.

Resigned that she wouldn't be falling asleep any time soon, Rose reached down and pulled out her laptop; thank God for onboard wifi. Just because she hadn't been in this universe at the time didn't mean the internet wouldn't be crawling with videos of the Battle of New York. In order to help SHIELD best, she would have to know what exactly she was going up against and who she was helping.

Rose did think it was ironic that this universe had the Battle of New York instead of the Battle of Canary Wharf. _Figures._

Plugging in her headphones, Rose was reminded of the first time she ever did an internet search for the Doctor to find out who the hell he was. That seemed like such a long time ago now. Fortunately for her, it didn't take nearly as long to find out what exactly happened.

She didn't realize that the group she had met were _really_ called the Avengers-she'd thought it was just a nickname that Tony Stark made up while drunk. But here it was: an article on how the Avengers saved New York City from an alien race called the Chitauri and a monster named Loki. Maybe it said something about Rose that her stomach didn't nearly turn as much as it should have when she read the death tolls, particularly those by Loki's own hand. No matter what monsters the world faced, nothing seemed to rival the Daleks.

Without realizing what she was doing, Rose found herself typing out two words: _bad wolf_.

She caught herself and backspaced, refocusing on the article. The name 'Chitauri' meant nothing to her. She'd never met the species in her home universe, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Opening another tab, Rose decided to look up the other species in the Torchwood databases.

Rose logged into the secure system, then started her research. The name itself yielded no results, but she knew better than to give up after that. She studied the images of the Chitauri from Google and started searching the database based on the physical features. Other than some vague descriptions of other races, Rose found nothing.

She dropped her head back against the headrest. If only the Doctor were here to help her now. Not for the first time, Rose thought of all the things the Doctor could do to help if only he were in this universe. For one, she wouldn't be stuck working at Torchwood. She would be off in the TARDIS, traveling the universe with him. And even if they were forced to stay on Earth, they would travel the planet, helping people from Bogota to Timbuktu. Hell, the two of them could even help out SHIELD in New York City with whatever was wrong with-

Inspiration hit. Rose realized that she had been thinking all the right things, just not in the right way. Yes, maybe Stark and Banner could help her find a way back to the Doctor, and maybe the Doctor could help Loki, but Stark and Banner could help her find her way back to the Doctor so that the Doctor _could help Loki_. It was exactly what they all needed.

Unbuckling her lap restraint, Rose stood and made her way to the front of the cabin and got the attention of one of the flight attendants. "Excuse me," she whispered, "can you tell me how long until we land?"

The older woman looked at her watch. "Our scheduled arrival time is in five and a half hours. Is everything alright?"

It took everything Rose had to not roll her eyes. "This is a level nine United Nations Intelligence Taskforce situation; I am not permitted to disclose details," she said, flashing her Torchwood badge briefly. "I need the captain to please inform me of our altitude so that I may make a phone call."

The stewardess glanced at her partner, making a face she probably didn't think Rose could see. She pulled the phone that had a direct line to the cockpit off the wall and held it up to her ear. Turning back to Rose with a false smile plastered on her face, she asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you, ma'am?"

Rose raised her eyebrows, saying, "I wouldn't mind if he turned the plane around and took us back to New York, thanks. I'll be in my seat."

A few minutes later, the flight attendant walked to Rose's seat and informed her of the current altitude before walking back to the galley up front. With a triumphant grin, Rose unlocked her mobile and fiddled with the controls, making sure the Torchwood signal was working. While the little Archangel logo spun in circles, Rose thought of what to say to Tony. As the most prolific member of their team, he would have to build the machine to take her home, and he would probably do whatever she wanted as long as she flirted with him. Rose felt bad for Pepper, if Tony was like that all the time.

The signal bar grew, indicating that the phone had successfully connected to the network. Rose held the phone up to her ear, waiting for someone to pick up despite the late hour.

_"Stark Industries, Iron Man speaking,"_ Tony's surprisingly not-groggy voice came through the line.

"Mr Stark," Rose began, "this is Rose Tyler, from Torchwood."

_"Oh, yeah,"_ he said; she could hear a fake yawn. _"What can I do for you, princess?"_

"I think I've figured out a way to help Thor and Loki, but I need your help. If I sent you some research, could you take a look at it and see what you think?"

_"Sure thing. Just don't call me in the middle of the night ever again. That's when I work the best."_

Rose smiled.

* * *

 

To: Jane Foster, PhD <jane.foster>  
From: Rose Tyler <rmtyler>  
Re: Research Proposal  
08:41 - 12 March 2014

Good morning Dr Foster,

We met briefly at a Vitex function recently. I have started a partnership with SHIELD, and I am enquiring as to whether you would be interested in helping me help them with some research, particularly as it applies to the brother of your friend. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have.

Thank you,

Rose Tyler  
Torchwood Institute

* * *

 

To: Rose Tyler <rmtyler>  
From: Jane Foster, PhD <jane.foster>  
Re: re: Research Proposal  
13:03 - 12 March 2014

Ms. Tyler,

I do remember meeting you. Please give your parents my greetings. I was not aware that you know my boyfriend. Forgive me for being so cryptic in emails. I may work for SHIELD but that doesn't mean I have to trust them.

I would be happy to take a look at your research. In fact, I have some personal information for you that you and your coworkers might find interesting.

Is there anywhere in particular you would like to meet? I do not have a very demanding schedule, so I am available at most times.

Jane Foster, PhD  
Culver University, Department of Physics

* * *

To: Jane Foster, PhD <jane.foster>  
From: Rose Tyler <rmtyler>  
Re: re: re: Research Proposal  
13:28 - 12 March 2014

Why don't we meet at the chippy by the Eye? It's crowded enough that we shouldn't be overheard. Say half past six?

Rose Tyler  
Torchwood Institute

* * *

 

To: Rose Tyler <rmtyler>  
From: Jane Foster, PhD <jane.foster>  
Re: re: re: re: Research Proposal  
13:34 - 12 March 2014

Sounds great.

Jane Foster, PhD  
Culver University, Department of Physics

* * *

 

Rose drummed her fingers on the table as she waited for Jane Foster to show up. Her basket of fish and chips sat before her, tempting her. It had been a long day in the office after a very long flight. There had been some Rift activity in Cardiff, but the branch out there was able to handle it with some help from Jake and Mickey. Rose had spent the majority of the day compiling evidence of her life in the other universe to prove that she wasn't a nutter when she (eventually) told everyone the truth. Well, compiling evidence and avoiding her mother.

Rose's phone buzzed. Glancing down at the fingerprint-smudged screen, she muttered, "Speak of the devil," and shivered. With a sigh, Rose picked up the phone and answered. "Mum, I can't talk now. I've got a work meeting. I'll call you later, yeah?"

"Rose-"

"I'll call you later, Mum. Love you," she added and hung up. Just then, she looked up and saw the petite physicist walk into the chippy. "Dr Foster!" Rose called out, getting the other woman's attention. As the brunette approached the table, Rose pulled a file of papers out of her bag. Once she had seated herself, Rose extended her hand. "It's nice to see you again."

"And you, Ms. Tyler," she said, shaking it.

"Rose."

"Then you must call me Jane," she said. "I am not aware of what the Torchwood Institute does, but once you emailed me, I may have asked my intern to look into the SHIELD database to find out more about your employer."

"If I hadn't already met your boyfriend's friends, I would have done the same," Rose said, putting her hands down on the manila file. She took a big breath. "I assume that you are aware of the existence of other dimensions."

"Of course," Jane said, "I worked on atmospheric disturbances that led up to an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Although I never would have gotten this far if not for Thor."

"Tell me, Jane, have you ever been to another world?" asked Rose.

Jane nodded. "I went to Asgard for a short time last year."

Rose smiled and said, "That makes my job a hell of a lot easier. If I told you that I'm from another universe, would you believe me?"

Although her eyes narrowed, Jane nodded. "I'm not saying I don't think you're crazy, but I do believe you. I wouldn't have if not because of Thor, but I do. So where are you from if not here?"

"A parallel universe," Rose said. "The reason there are no records on me having ever existed before a year ago is because I wasn't in this universe. There's this sort of space between worlds called the Void and while trying to save the old universe, I fell through a crack and into this one. My mum an' friend are here, too, but...it was an accident. The walls of the universe have sealed themselves off and there's no way to get back. At least, that's what I was told. I think it would be possible to find a way back. There's a man in the other universe who can help Thor and Loki. He's the only one who can help them."

Jane nodded slowly. "So why do you need my help? It sounds like you already have a plan and the capabilities to do it with Torchwood."

Rose laughed. "Bit of an idiot, me. Never even got my A-Levels. I'm no doctor. No, you're the only person mad enough to help me, and that's because you know it can be done. Maybe not yet, but you'll find a way." Gesturing to the folder between them, Rose said, "I've put together all the info I've got on the differences between worlds and where potential weak spots in the walls might be. Will you help me?"

Jane looked at Rose carefully. "Yes," she said. "But if you'll help me with my own research."

"I don't see how there's anythin' I can do to help, but I'll do what I can," Rose said.

"I think an unusual number of stars are dying at an unpredictable rate," Jane says. "It sounds crazy, but there's no explanation for relatively young stars to just disappear. There's no evidence of supernova or growth into a larger star body. It doesn't make sense. Torchwood studies extraterrestrial life, right?"

Rose nodded. "If it's alien, it's ours."

Jane dug around in her bag and pulled out a thick stack of folded papers. "Just take a look at these, maybe show them around and see what you think of them. Technically, I'm probably not allowed to take them from SHIELD, but since you're the liaison now..."

"I'll look," Rose promised, sliding the file of her own work towards Jane. "Would you like to meet up again in a few days?"

"Yeah," Jane said. "How does the day after tomorrow at noon sound?"

"Perfect." Rose stood, taking her newspaper-wrapped fish and chips with her as she walked toward the door. Once outside, she passed through the thick crowds of tourists and headed towards Jubilee Gardens. She approached a bench and sat, brushing away the hair that had blown in her face with a strong gust of wind.

Setting the food down beside her, Rose unfolded the documents Jane had given her. There were several photographs of the night sky with certain things circled. Each photograph was dated in the bottom left hand corner. Not entirely sure what she was looking at, Rose kept flipping through the photos, until she saw a blank space circled in silver marker. She went back one photo. There was a circle in the exact same spot, but there was a star in that picture. Looking between the two, Rose didn't understand how they could be different. Stars moved, she'd learned that much from the Doctor. Hell, she even understood that stars burned away over millions of years. _(Bloody supernova.)_

But when Rose looked at the timestamp on each photo, she saw that they were taken on the same night, fifteen minutes apart. Stars couldn't just disappear like that, right? Jane would have known if it were just a cloud covering it or something. There had to be a logical explanation.

As Rose flipped through the photographs and documents, she began to recognize a pattern. There were always two sets of photos: one with an empty circle and one with a star; there had to be a dozen pairs. The timestamps were irregular but clearly Jane had found some correlation.

The more she studied the papers, Rose felt her stomach sinking.

It seemed impossible, but the stars were going out.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but I didn't want to drag it on. Enjoy!

_Chapter IV_

He dreamed.

It was dark and it was quiet and it was cold.

Sometimes, if he really focused, he could hear a faint pulse of some mechanical sound. He would feel the icy fluid run through his veins; how could a frost giant feel cold unless through some mechanisms of torture? There were times when he was closer to the surface and he thought he could hear voices.

_“We have to keep him under sedation.”_

_“--it isn’t safe--”_

_“--it’s for his own good--”_

And then they would fade away and he would be just as lost as before.

Even the stars above would come and go as they pleased, leaving him alone in the darkness. His head was _killing him_ , much worse than the failed attempt at ruling Midgard.

He had never felt so alone.

Until he wasn’t.

The voice started as a whisper, a soft sound in the back of his mind that fought against the rushing winds and empty vacuums of nowhere. This was some sort of torture (it had to be; why would _that monster_ send anyone else into his mind if not to torture him somehow?) to break him.

It was a small voice, light and pleading. _“I don’t know where I am.”_ Repeated, “I don’t know where I am. Please, tell me where I am, I don’t know where I am! Doctor!”

She broke down crying, and for the first time, he could see her. She was small and on the ground on her hands and knees, struggling to rise. Her fingers clawed into the dusty rock, trying to raise herself up. She managed to climb to her feet.

For the first time, he felt like helping rather than hindering. “Wait--” he choked out, the first words he had said in what felt like a lifetime.

The girl gasped and stumbled as she turned around. “Doctor!” she screamed. Her eyes landed on him, and she murmured, “Where am I? I don’t know where I am.”

He shook his head, unable to get any words out, and watched as a solitary tear slipped down her cheek and off her jaw. He could almost imagine it hit the ground and displace the dust in a cloud of smoke. The rocky surroundings glowed orange like a reflection of firelight, circling them in smoke.

“Help me, please,” she said, taking an ungraceful step towards him. “I don’t know where I am.” She reached a hand out towards him but he backed away with every faltering step she took. “Please...”

He couldn’t bear to take her hand, to touch her. How could anyone want to touch him, the monster?

He fought to get any sound out of his mouth; the words were caught in his throat. “I-I--how--” He found himself backed up against a wall of stone that he wasn’t sure had been there before.

“Please,” she sobbed, reaching towards him and growing ever closer. “I don’t know where I am. I have to find the Doctor, I need to find--please.” With each step she took, he felt his legs giving out on him. Before he knew it, he was on the ground, his knees pulled up to his chest.

The girl kept stumbling towards him. She sank down to the ground when she could hold herself up no longer and crawled to him. Her chest was heaving with exhaustion and she was fighting to keep her eyes open by the time she reached him. She couldn’t even hold herself upright and collapsed, resting her forehead on his thigh.

If he kept trying, maybe the words would come. “Who-who--” he started, but couldn’t speak, the dust catching in his throat.

“C-Clara,” she stammered, and her shoulders shook with her sobs. “I don’t know where I am. Please, tell me where I am.”

Before he even realized it, he spoke. “I don’t know where you are.”

She looked up at him. “Who are you?” she asked, her voice steady. “How did you get here? How did _I_ get here?”

Her eyes were on him, and he felt compelled to answer for a reason he didn’t understand. “I, um--Loki.”

“Loki,” she repeated. He hadn’t heard his name in so long, it sounded like a gift, a reminder of who he was--who he used to be. She exhaled and a brief smile flittered onto her face. “For a minute there I thought you were gonna say the Doctor, but I don’t know this face. How did you get here?”

“This,” Loki said, feeling more like himself, “is my penance.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

He looked at her: Clara, he reminded himself, then looked away. “I am a monster. This is my punishment.”

When he met her eyes again, he saw curiosity, wariness, and--worst of all--pity. “No one deserves this.”

Loki stood and took a few steps away, his hands clasped behind his back. The stance made him feel like Loki Odinson once more, though that was not who he was. It felt good to pretend, at least. “You don’t know me.” He looked back at her. “How did you get here?”

A darkness settled in her eyes. “I think I died.” Clara looked down at the ground and rose, her eyes still on her feet. She shifted her gaze upwards and said,

“I don’t know where I am.”

“Yes,” Loki said, “you mentioned that.”

“Where am I?” Clara asked, running her fingers into her hair, clawing at her scalp. Her eyes filled with tears again, and she muttered, “I don’t know where I am! Doctor!” She screamed and her voice echoed off the stone walls and reverberated into Loki’s very bones. “Doctor!”

The smoke grew thicker and as she screamed, her voice grew further and further away though Loki was quite sure neither of them was moving. When her screams finally died out, she was gone.

This was torture, he reminded himself.

_“He’s going into shock--”_

_“--where the hell is Banner when you need him?”_

_“Dammit, Rogers, sedate him!”_

This was torture and he deserved it. Ice coursed through his veins, beneath his skin, into his very being and it was so different than the torture before Midgard.

It was dark and it was quiet and it was cold.

He dreamed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was heavily inspired by Agent Carter on ABC, which also gave me some new ideas for a further plot point later on. Sorry for the delay, and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Please let me know what you think!

_Chapter V_

Natasha yawned, and rested her head in the palm of her hand. She could hear the clock on the wall ticking, slowly driving her insane. That awful sound reminded her of the clock on the nightstand in a chilly room in Volgograd; creaking beds with threadbare sheets covering shivering bodies as deceptively impure snow fell outside the window, her calves aching from the hours spent en pointe--

But no, she was never a dancer, never trained to be a principle at the Russian Ballet. She made herself think of something else.

It was her shift on Loki-Watch, as Tony had affectionately called it. It had been three days since the fallen prince of Asgard had been attacked. Clint had been in the room at the time (doing what, Natasha did not know), and it was a testament to the archer’s _goodness_ that he called for help instead of allowing the man to suffer.

The attack was the strangest thing Natasha had seen in a while. The good thing about most adversaries was that they were visible and in the vicinity. Loki’s mind was being ravaged from the inside, or at least somewhere far away. He was seizing and choking and Natasha was sure that if he had been conscious, he would have been screaming.

She knew a thing or two about torture.

Natasha had a near perfect memory of everything that happened after the Red Room. It was part of her job, and why she was so good at it. Details were no trouble to remember, and it was the details of that conversation with Loki that Natasha was remembering at that moment. _Dripping, gushing red._ It still was.

She didn’t fear him. He was a petulant child with friends in the wrong crowd. She could see it in Thor’s eyes and hear it in the words Clint spoke after one too many drinks. He was spoiled and jealous and angry, but not a monster, no matter what he thought of himself.

She pitied him. Thor told them about Loki’s adoption when they first met, but he only told them of his true heritage after Loki’s subconscious was breached. Natasha was an orphan and had no past worth anything, but she had always known that. To have everything she’d ever known ripped away from her with no warning, to be told that she was the monster she had always hated was inconceivable.

Thor had left for Asgard hours after they managed to sedate Loki. He was the rightful King and needed to see to the land he had abandoned. There were questions he needed to have answered. Natasha hoped he would return soon, if only because Loki did not trust any of them. If he woke, it was quite possible he would put up a fight. Having Thor on their side would help immensely.

Natasha knew Tony was keeping in regular contact with Jane Foster as she worked with Torchwood to develop Rose Tyler’s world-crossing device. Natasha didn’t understand all of the science behind it, but she knew that Tony, Bruce, and Jane were constantly going on and on about how it was the biggest challenge they’d ever faced--and that was saying something coming from Jane Foster. They were keeping some of the details to themselves, probably because the ‘minions’--as Tony kept referring to the rest of the group--wouldn’t understand and it wasn’t their place to tell, as told by Bruce.

She sat straight in her chair, rigid and uncomfortable at this man’s bedside. Her back was to the door; a mistake she rarely made. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled, and she forced her muscles to relax. The door opened, and heavy footsteps marched into the room. Natasha exhaled, recognizing the gait.

“Tired of hearing Stark and Banner bicker?” Natasha asked.

Steve dragged a chair over and sat down next to her. “Not sure if they’re getting along or not. How’s Loki?”

Natasha shrugged. “No different than he was two hours ago, or two days ago for that matter.”

They settled into a companionable silence for a few moments. Natasha could tell Steve was itching to say something.

“You know,” he began, “when I first saw this man in Germany, I kept thinking of all the Nazis I’d met. Now I’m not sure who’s worse: this guy or Hitler.”

Natasha sighed and patted his knee. “I don’t know if you can compare them. Based on what Thor said, Loki was really hurt. It’s not easy finding out that you’re the monster you were raised to hate.” She fell silent, reflecting. “Of course, that doesn’t condone his actions.”

“You know Nat,” said Steve, “it’s okay to not be okay for once. If you want to go, I can stay here and finish your watch.”

She shook her head minutely. “No, it’s fine. I don’t know what came over me.” She paused. “There’s something off about this whole situation, and I don’t know what it is.”

“I know what you mean. I can’t shake the feeling that there’s more going on here and Loki’s not as trustworthy as he seems.”

“Trustworthy?” Natasha laughed. “I wouldn’t trust him if my life depended on it.”

“I just meant that maybe he wasn’t attacked and put into a coma.”

Natasha considered it. “I could use a drink.”

Just then, the door opened and Stark put his head in. “Rose just called; she’s on her way here with Jane. They just landed at JFK.” He left, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, allowing the mechanical sounds of the life-support fill the room.

“Do you remember it?” she asked, breaking the silence between them.

Steve looked at her, his expression quizzical. “Remember what?”

She stared at a blank spot on the wall, unfocused. “Crashing.” Perhaps it was cruel; she had never feared the dark and cold.

He was silent for a long time but finally spoke. “I haven’t had nearly enough to drink to get into that, Nat. Better go check on Tony and make sure he’s not rolling out the red carpet for our guests.” Steve stood and walked towards the door. Just before he left the room, he turned back and said, “I remember Peggy’s voice.”

Natasha nodded and once he was gone, looked at Loki. Pale and gaunt and dressed in a hospital gown, the God of Mischief looked nothing like himself. She could only imagine the questioning he would go through once he woke.

There was a loud crash on the floor above and then some cursing. With a sigh, Natasha rose and mentally prepared herself for damage control. God bless Pepper Potts. 

* * *

 

Tony was on his hands and knees, using an actual brush and dustpan to gather up the shards of broken glass from when Steve hurled the glass at Tony’s head after jumping out and scaring Steve. He had been roaring with laughter when Pepper found him.

Due to the commotion, Rose and Jane’s arrival went unnoticed until they walked into the room. “Looks like someone’s finally got you learning a lesson, Mr. Stark,” said Jane, setting her suitcase on the floor.

“Doesn’t he have, like, robots or something to do that for him?” asked a petite brunette beside Jane. Rose snorted, and the girl looked around the room. “Holy shit. This place is freaking amazeballs. Like, can we live here all the time?”

“Darcy,” huffed Jane in warning.

Rose quickly interceded. “Mr. Banner, lovely to see you again.”

Bruce nodded. “Tony would have had a band ready to play ‘God Save the Queen’ if he didn’t decide trying to give an old man a heart attack would be more amusing. No wonder Hill can’t stand the man.”

“I’ll have you know,” interjected Tony, “that the lady loves me, as do all women.”

“It astounds me how similar to your father you are,” Steve said. Tony _actually_ growled at him.

Sensing the need to change the subject, Rose asked, “How are the plans for the dimension cannon going?”

“We’ve got some research to show you that will make your project top priority,” said Jane.

“Like it already isn’t?”

“It’s really important for me to get back to the prime universe as soon as possible,” Rose said. “Somethin’ really bad’s happening.”

“Why can’t _we_ be the prime universe?” complained Tony.

Rose sighed. She had hoped to keep from getting into this—her past. “Because that’s the universe that bore Gallifrey.”

They stared at her in silence until Tony said, “That was anticlimactic. What the hell is Gallifrey? A creepy ass space alien?” He paused. “Wait. Is no one going to ask why she said ‘universe’ and not world? We are talking about, like, Asgard or something, right?”

Rose exchanged a glance with Jane. “Not exactly,” she said. “I haven’t been completely honest with you lot. ‘m actually not even from this Earth. The reason there is no information on me and my family is because we weren’t here. I’m from a different universe entirely. I only ended up here by accident. It’s a long story, and I’m not ready to talk about it, but I’ll do what I can to fill you in.

“Gallifrey is a planet in the prime universe. It was the home of the Time Lords, a race that managed time itself and its effects on the universe. I had a…friend from there, called the Doctor. He did great things, but he was the last of the Time Lords. The rest had died and the planet destroyed. I was traveling with him when we first ended up in this world—Pete’s World, he called it.” Her eyes were sad as she said, “It wasn’t until later that I got stuck here. The Doctor said there was no way to go back through the walls between universes, but there has to be because somethin’ bad is entering the universe.”

When Rose stopped to take a breath and looked down at her hands, Jane took initiative and continued for her. “There’s a darkness in the skies that is unnatural. I’ve tracked stars my entire life, and this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen. Stars are just disappearing out of nowhere.”

“It’s freakin’ creepy.”

“Thank you, Darcy,” Jane huffed with a pointed glare. “Rose thinks that this Doctor can stop the darkness from coming. My colleague, Dr. Erik Selvig, has—”

“Gone off the deep end,” interrupted Darcy.

“—agreed that the problem doesn’t seem to be coming from anywhere in this universe, except for one tiny sliver of space in Norway, of all places.”

“Dårlig Ulv Stranden,” Rose said. “It’s where the last message I ever received from the Doctor was transmitted. I think that’s the key to breaking through the Void.”

Tony had begun pacing. Steve watched the women with a pained look on his face, like he couldn’t even comprehend what they were saying, though Rose doubted that. “Say this dimension cannon even works,” Bruce said, “how on earth would we even get that kind of power? It wouldn’t just run off of Double-A’s.”

Rose’s face broke into a grin like none they had seen on her. “God, that’s my favorite part!” she exclaimed.

Darcy nodded and smacked her gum. “She kept going on about it. Talking about some wacko mayor.”

Using her hands to talk, Rose continued, “There’s this rift in time and space in Cardiff. We had one in my universe. The Doctor would take the TARDIS—that’s his ship—to Cardiff Bay and let her soak up the Rift Energy. It’s perfect!”

“And what exactly is this Doctor supposed to do to help us?” asked Natasha, narrowed eyes trained on Rose, who sobered.

“He’ll help Loki. I know it,” she said, her words full of promise. “Time Lords are telepathic. If anyone can help Loki, it’s the Doctor. Maybe it’s crazy, but I think the stars going out and the attack on Loki are connected.”

Tony stopped pacing. “You aren’t the only one. Come on, Big Guy. Let’s build this slingshot so we can get that Doctor guy to fix Hamlet.” To Rose, he added, “I think we can get a working prototype by the end of the week.”

Holding his hand out for a fist bump, Tony waited for Rose’s response and then left the room with Banner following. Once they were gone, Darcy flopped down on the nearest sofa and pulled out her phone, snapping a picture of Steve leaned against the bar. After the audible click of the camera shutter, all eyes were on her. “What?” she asked. “I’m in the same room as the world’s greatest superheroes. Hell yeah, this is going on Instagram. Now should I use Valencia or X-Pro II?”

“Is there any way I can get word to Thor on Asgard?” asked Jane.

“Just start talking to that cool golden dude,” answered Darcy, totally invested in her phone. “I’m sure he can pass on a message.”

Rose grinned to herself.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry about the delay. Life has been insanely busy. This chapter should start to pick up the plot a bit more. Just so you know, one of my headcanons starts to come into play here, and it should make itself visible (once you reach it). Don't particularly worry about it, and don't feel put off by it (it's just a ship).
> 
> Oh, and if you're a Browncoat, you should pick up a specific reference.
> 
> Enjoy! Please message me on tumblr (hope-the-lionheart) if you have any questions/concerns/praise or just want to talk. Thanks!

_Chapter VI_

With a quick breath, Rose woke. Slowly, she sat up and looked around the room. The dream she’d had—which was slowly slipping out beyond her reach like water in cupped hands—was the most realistic she’d had in months. The contents of the dream were gone now, and Rose released the breath she had been holding.

Her pounding heart was slowing, Rose looked at the clock: not an obscenely early time to be up. Just as Rose reached for her mobile, there was a knock at the door. She looked to the door and called out, “Come in.”

The door opened and Darcy Lewis entered. “Tony wanted to come, but Pepper said that was a bad idea. I volunteered instead. Pop-tart?” she asked, offering out one of the toaster pastries. Rose shook her head, feeling like words were on the tip of her tongue. _What had that dream been about?_  “I think the dimension cannon thingy is ready. Tony said something about going to get a hamster to test it on, but Pepper shot that down too.”

Rose perked up at the words ‘dimension cannon,’ throwing back the blankets and grabbing her dressing gown. “Thanks, Darcy!” she exclaimed, running out of the room.

“No problem,” the other girl muttered, following Rose out of the room.

When Rose got into the lab, she half expected Tony to be sitting in the corner wearing a dunce cap. It seemed everyone was already up except for her. “We’re still in the testing phases,” said Tony. “I think it works, but we’re not going to send you out until we’re sure you can get back.”

“In one piece,” added Bruce.

Steve folded his arms and leaned against the counter. “Are you sure you want to go through yourself? I’m sure we could find—”

Rose shook her head. “It’s gotta be me. I—I have to find him. The stars are going out and…I just have to.” She could tell them how she felt about the Doctor, but to say those words to anyone but him, even if she’d already said them once, seemed wrong. “I need him. He’s all alone,” she said, the weight of what she had asked them to do settling on her chest. Her eyes pricked and her vision blurred. “I’m all he had. There’s no one left.”

Jane walked to one of the monitors and started typing things in. “Is your home Earth exactly the same as ours?”

Rose nodded, sniffing. “More’r less.”

The scientist nodded and flipped open an atlas. “I’m gonna put in the coordinates for the Greenwich Observatory. You know where that is, right?” When Rose confirmed this, Jane looked to Tony and Bruce. “Being so close to the convergence location we just had coupled with the proximity to the Rift in Cardiff, I think that’s our best shot of making sure you end up somewhere close enough to your own home and an energy source in case anything goes wrong.”

“I wanna go,” whined Tony. “Why does the Queen get to go?”

“Because she’s the one who’s actually from there,” answered Rose, a smile growing. “Besides, you’d get distracted.”

Tony considered it. “That’s probably true.”

“Give us a couple more hours,” Jane said. “Why don’t you go get breakfast? I think Steve made eggs.”

The captain nodded. “They’re cold now, but I’ll make you some more.” He turned to leave the lab, with Rose following, along with Darcy and Natasha, leaving the scientists alone. “I can also make bacon if you want. Or pancakes. Some things don’t change in seventy years.”

“Just eggs is fine,” said Rose, wishing she could just taken the dimension cannon and start the jump. “This is probably a really stupid question, but how exactly did you end up ‘ere? I didn’t think time travel was possible in this century.”

“No one told you?” She shook her head. Steve continued walking, his back a little straighter, and said, “I’m from Brooklyn, and—it’s a long story, but basically I ended up as part of a science experiment to fight the Nazis, and my plane crashed in the ocean. I was found, cryogenically frozen, and woke up a couple years ago. Didn’t get out much until recently.”

Rose nodded, remaining silent. Natasha peeled off towards the medical wing, for her next shift of Loki-Watch.

Seeing that Darcy was fiddling with her phone and that Natasha was now gone, Steve said, “So you really think this Doctor of yours can help Thor’s brother?”

Again, Rose nodded. “I’m sure of it. He’s amazin’. He can do anythin’.”

“I may not like Loki,” Steve said, “but he’s not completely right in the head. Hopefully Thor will be back soon so that when you return with this Doctor, Loki doesn’t wake up in a room full of people he hates.”

Rose looked at him, feeling a bud of hope begin to bloom in her chest. “You really think I can find him?”

Walking across the hardwood floor to the refrigerator, Steve said, “Of course. You’ve got enough determination to tear down those walls yourself.”

Rose smiled wistfully. “I wish.” She paused, then as her smile grew, continued, “God, I can’t wait to see him. It hasn’t been very long but it feels like a lifetime. I can’t believe it’s only been a few years.”

Half of Steve’s mouth turned up into a smile. “It only feels like a few years to me, but it’s been decades.”

Watching him take out the carton of eggs and select a few from the half dozen or so that were left, Rose said, “Is there someone you left without a goodbye?”

It took a moment for Steve to put the words together, but finally: “Yeah. I had a date.” Another pause, “So do you want these scrambled or boiled or what?”

Rose smiled and laughed. “Scrambled, please,” she said, thinking that maybe Captain Rogers would be alright.

* * *

 

_“The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spot. Down came the rain and washed the spider out…”_

She returned to him, always confused and lost in a haze of smoke that only faded when she was gone. He had convinced himself that she was a dream until she spoke. “Loki—” (It was strange to hear his name in a gentle manner and not full of fear and malice.) “—where am I?”

It was no longer difficult for him to talk. Somehow, he woke one day and found no more words caught behind his lips. But he didn’t know the answer to her question, so he avoided it. “Are you dead?” _Am I?_ went unasked.

Clara didn’t answer at first.

In fact, Clara didn’t answer for some time. When she did speak, it was only to say, “This reminds me of somewhere I’ve been before.” She paused. “What is this place, really?”

“Did I not say Purgatory?” answered Loki, a mischievous grin spreading his lips. “Or perhaps it is all in your head.”

Clara shook her head and laughed morose sort of chuckle. “I’ve been in my head, mate, and it’s nothing like this.”

“Then we must be in my head,” suggested Loki.

Again, Clara shook her head. “Can’t be. How would _I_ end up here?”

“Then that leaves us with Purgatory.”

Clara stared at him with narrowed eyes before saying, “Are you always this cheery?”

“It’s a rarity to see me grin,” said Loki.

Clara smirked. “Somehow I doubt that.” They watched each other until it grew uncomfortable. Looking around the dusty cavern, Clara took several paces toward him. “So who are you, Loki? I don’t believe that monster talk. I’ve met monsters and they aren’t this humane.”

Loki folded his arms across his chest and leaned against a stone wall. “I’m not human. I am a god.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, you’re one of _those_ types? Explains a lot, mate. Though I will say—I don’t think I’m incredibly human either. Or maybe I haven’t always been human. What can I say?” She stopped, a great grin growing. “I’m impossible, a leaf on the wind.” Clara whispered, “Watch how I soar.”

“Is that supposed to be impressive?” asked Loki, arching a brow of his own.

Clara narrowed her eyes. “Could be. You remind me of an old friend.”

“I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone like you. If I’m not a monster to you, what madness have you seen?”

“Oh,” she shrugged, “Daleks, Ice Warriors, invisible gnomes that kill soufflés, Cybermen, hell of a lot really.”

Loki looked at her strangely. “These Ice Warriors…what were they like? Blue?”

“No,” she said with a shake of her head, “more…green. Like a mutant ninja turtle. Though I’m not sure who was the bigger monster there, the Ice Warrior or the Soviet. What are you the god of?”

There was an indescribable glint in his eyes as he answered, “Mischief.”

Clara barked out a laugh. “Are you sure it’s not crypticness and self-loathing? Though I suppose I should’ve seen that coming, what with all the…you know.” She made a vague gesture with her hands, waving them around in some sort of circular pattern before her.

He raised an eyebrow. “No, I do not.”

Clara’s lips quirked into a half-grin. “Dramatics. Seriously, you could give the Doctor a run for his money.”

“Who is this ‘doctor’ you keep mentioning?” asked Loki.

“He changed my life,” Clara answered. “He’s incredible, my best friend. Actually, he can be really stupid and mean, but he means well. I think you might like him. He would certainly like you.”

Loki’s face fell. “I do not like anyone. I have no friends.”

“Oh, that’s not true,” she said. Upon seeing his quizzical face, she continued, “You like me. Or at least my company. I’m very good at reading people, Loki; it’s sort of my superpower, and I can see it in your eyes. You’re lonely.”

“Do not speak to me of super powers.”

“Ooh, touchy,” teased Clara, folding her arms across her chest and shifting her weight like she was leaning on something. “Is there something you’d like to share with the class?”

If looks could kill, Clara Oswald would be dead ten times over. Her light-hearted smile fell, and her posture grew stiff. In a single move that was almost unnoticeable, Loki’s shoulders slumped just slightly and the turn of his head was enough to close himself off.

Apologizing seemed like the right thing to do. “I’m sorry,” said Clara, dropping her hands to her sides. “I shouldn’t’ve joked.”

Loki turned the rest of his body away from her. “Go back to your own realm, Clara, and do not return.”

Saddened by his apparent lack of self-worth, Clara made soft steps toward him and took his hand in hers. Loki turned his head sharply and looked down at her. Clara was struck by how much taller than her he was, but looked up at him anyway. “I have this friend,” she started, “who’s always very sad. He’s thousands of years old and has gone through so many terrible things. He gets lonely. He shuts people out when he cares for them, even though they just want to help. I, and his other friends all over the universe, have to be his family, because he doesn’t have any. He just needs a hand to hold sometimes.”

“This is your Doctor?” Loki clarified. Clara nodded. “He must be pitiful to rely on weak humans for comfort.”

Clara sighed, but made no comment. She lifted her head above to where the sky should have been. “I don’t think I’ll be here much longer.”

_“…out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy-bitsy spider went up the spout again.”_

* * *

 

Her heart pounded, and her feet hit the pavement. Taking off at a run, she barreled past people, muttering her apologies. The air filled her lungs in such a sweet way; _home._ Little white creatures were floating up in the air, pulled into a ship in the sky. The ground below was marked with police barriers to keep civilians from going any closer.

Rose wondered if Torchwood was nearby.

Slowing to a walk, Rose approached the barrier and pushed her way to the front. Resting her hands on the barrier, she let her skin seep in the cold. She looked to the stars—this universe seemed safe for now. There was no way of knowing if her journey into this universe would affect the stars here. But she had to pretend, at least for the time being, that the risk was worth it.

Rose only had five minutes here before they pulled her back to the other universe. This was the first time the dimension cannon actually worked, and they wanted to make sure she wouldn’t get stuck here (not that she would complain, really). If Rose was going to find the Doctor, it had to be quickly. She had no guarantees that the dimension cannon would work again.

There was a woman speaking loudly on the phone behind Rose. She turned to see what the commotion was, but then the woman looked right at her. She was older than Rose, with long red hair.

To Rose, the woman said, “Listen, there’s this woman that’s going to come along: a tall, blonde woman named Sylvia. Tell her that bin there, alright?” She gestured to a rubbish bin a few meters away. “It’ll all make sense. That bin there.”

Before Rose could ask questions or make excuses, the woman had started off again. Rose turned and looked once more to the scene of alien ascension. Sylvia wasn’t going to get the message about the specific bin, because Rose could feel the tingling sensation in her fingertips that accompanied the jump.

With a sigh, Rose stepped away from the barricade and began walking away. It would probably be best if she disappeared out of sight and not where general masses could see her. As she walked, she squeezed her hands into fists, trying to make the tingling go away.

And then her vision faded to black, white, and she was staring at Jane and Tony and Bruce.

Darcy began a slow clap. “Holy shit,” the intern said, “that was pretty cool.”

“Any luck?” asked Jane, grabbing a handheld device that Rose knew would check her for radiation.

She shook her head. “I had a feeling that I just missed him or something. Or maybe I wasn’t even in the right universe. But it felt like it. When can I go again?”

Tony cocked his head. “That’s not something I typically hear in scientific context.”

Steve walked over to Rose and handed her a bottle of Gatorade. “We want to keep your electrolytes up, just in case.” She nodded and took a long drink, listening as Steve continued, “I think it’s in everyone’s best interests that we wait for you to jump again to make sure there are no negative side effects. I think Drs. Foster and Banner, and Stark would agree that twenty-four hours would be enough?”

Jane nodded, and Bruce concurred. “There are no immediate signs of radiation, but we’ll want to keep an eye on your blood pressure and energy levels.”

Rose was going to make a joke about needing the exercise, but she was unable to speak up before Natasha pushed open the door and entered the room with a demanding presence.

“Has anyone heard from Clint?” she asked.

“He’s on his way to Eastern Europe,” answered Tony. Everyone put their eyes on him. “What, like it’s actually surprising that I keep up with my people? Even SHIELD has stopped trying to keep me out of their system. I’m just too smart for them.”

“Why the hell would he be going to Eastern Europe?” exclaimed Natasha.

Steve shrugged. “Maybe Fury had some sort of mission. It isn’t like he’s never done that before, Nat.”

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Okay, Obi Wan,” muttered Tony, reaching for his iPad. With that, Natasha left.

* * *

 

Thor walked the along the bridge to Heimdall’s Observatory with his hands clasped behind his back, his dear friend Sif striding alongside him. Being back in Asgard was taxing and saddening, as he kept expecting his mother to turn some corner and call for him. Since Odin had fallen back into the Odinsleep and Frigga murdered, Thor was the rightful king.

Sif was telling Thor of various strategies employed by the Warriors Three during the Battle of Gladsheim, as the fight on the day that Loki was revealed to be masquerading as Odin had become known. “And then Fandral and I managed to find the original. But Thor,” she paused, “we do not know how the enemy managed to enter this realm or where they were from. They could shift into beings without form and spoke no known tongue.”

It was painfully obvious to the Shield Maiden that her king was not listening. Distracted, Thor asked, “And you swear you did not know that Loki had been ruling in the All-Father’s stead?”

Sif’s eyes were sad as she answered, “I swear it on my own grave and passage to Valhalla. None of us were aware of his deceit. Thor, must you go back to Midgard so soon? I fear that Asgard will suffer in your absence.”

When Thor met her eyes, Sif saw the conflict running through his mind. “Dear Lady Sif,” he said, “Asgard will prosper long after we have gone.”

“That is not what I meant—”

He held up a hand to stop her. “I know. But my brother needs me. He would not be safe in Asgard.”

Sif sighed. “Thor, please be serious. Is Loki really any safer on Midgard than he would be here?”

“He maybe have waged war on Midgard,” Thor said gravely, “but he did not impersonate their king. Asgardians have had enough of my brother’s antics. I also have reason to believe that Loki may have been under some other’s influence. It is not in his nature—”

Sif snorted, but then grew serious once more. She stopped walking and turned fully to her friend. “Thor, if you do not recognize that your brother is truly a seeker of trouble, then you are blind.” With another heavy sigh, Sif cast her eyes to the side. “My king, I ask to accompany you to Midgard. Loki and I have unfinished business that needs taking care of. He and I…there are things that have gone unspoken for centuries and need be said. Please, my king.”

Thor watched her carefully for a long moment before nodding. “I do not know what history you have with my brother, but I trust that you, as my closest friend and ally, will not come to harm Loki. You must swear to me that you will do what it takes to protect my brother, a prince of Asgard.”

Sif placed her fist over her heart. “I so swear.”

Nodding once, Thor walked into the golden observatory where Heimdall stood watch over the Nine Realms. He did not turn his golden eyes on the pair, but Heimdall was aware of their presence and spoke, “There are dark forces at work throughout the Realms, my king. Loki is not the greatest of all threats.”

“I know that, Heimdall,” said Thor. “But he is my brother and in need.”

Heimdall dipped his head respectfully, and prepared to open the Bifrost. “Stop the threat that endangers the worlds,” he warned, “and unleash a threat even greater.”

Thor and Sif exchanged a glance before feeling that pull behind their navels and being launched into the Bifrost, hurtling at a great speed toward Midgard.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really sorry for the delay. This chapter was giving me hell, so I ended up making it somewhat short since it just needed to be transitional. After I saw AOU on Thursday, I reworked my entire plan for this fic to incorporate some new ideas I had. Nothing has changed so far, and I should hopefully get another update posted soon.
> 
> Thanks, and enjoy!

_Chapter VII_

With a groan, Rose rolled over and grabbed her mobile, squinting from the bright light in the otherwise dark room. _MUM_ , read the screen. Despite her annoyance, Rose answered the phone. “Yeah?” she mumbled.

_“Rose Marion Tyler, have you been screening your calls?”_

“Mum, it’s called caller ID, and no,” Rose said, feeling herself nodding off again. “It’s three o’clock in the bloody morning. Can’t you call back during the day?”

_“So you can ignore my calls and conveniently be too busy to call me back and then forget? I don’t think so, young lady.”_

Rose sighed. “What the hell are you on about now, Mum?”

_“Don’t use that tone with me! You never call me back anymore. What if something horrible were happening to me or Pete and you didn’t know? This is the twenty-bloody-first century and you are on the other side of the planet. I put up with you not callin’ so much when you were off with the Doctor because at least he was somewhat responsible. Call your bloody mother once in a while.”_

“I will call you later, Mum,” she muttered, half into her phone and half into her pillow. “Good night.” Dropping her phone beside her head, Rose closed her eyes and was nearly asleep when her phone began to ring once more. “What, Mum?” she demanded.

_“Agent Tyler, this is Commander Arnold Quincy. We have just received your report on the progress of the trans-dimensional transportation device. The Torchwood Institute regrets to inform you that Project Cannon has been recalled. As such, your position here at the Institute has been terminated. Directer Tyler has arranged to have your belongings removed from your office, and for your severance package to be standard. Thank you for your service and have a nice day.”_

The line went dead and Rose flipped the lamp on. “What the hell?” she muttered to herself. Without thinking, Rose pinched herself to see if she was dreaming. No such luck. “Did I just get fired?” She was suddenly wide awake.

Blinking back tears she had no real explanation for, Rose found herself climbing out of bed and leaving her room. Running her fingertips along the wall, she walked into the large sitting area Stark used for entertaining. Making her way to one of the large sofas, Rose chewed on her lip. The room was dark, but she didn’t care.

Her once chance of finding the Doctor had just been taken away.

Rose gasped for air and began to cry harder than she had in months.

“Tea?”

She jumped and raised her fists, ready for a fight; Estate habits died hard. A light flipped on and Rose realized that Bruce Banner was standing in front of her with a mug in his hands.

“I just used the Keurig,” he explained, “so it shouldn’t take too long to heat up. I can make you a cup if you want. Tony only keeps coffee alternatives around because coffee makes the Big Guy jumpy.”

Running a hand through her hair, Rose released a breath she hadn’t known she was holding and nodded. Banner walked across the room to the small counter area where the coffee maker rested. This was a dream. This _had_ to be a dream.

“I’ve been told that I’m a good listener,” Bruce said, “if you want to talk. If not, I understand.”

“N-no,” Rose stammered. “I think I was jus’ fired. Torchwood—they called, an’ I don’ have a job no more.” A small part of Rose’s mind cringed at the way her carefully cultured tone slipped when she was upset. “Wha’ the hell’m I gonna do? They’ve recalled the dimension cannon. I’ll have to go back. An’ I’ll never see the Doctor again. Oh, my God—” Her voice broke, unable to speak anymore.

From the other side of the room, Bruce said, “Take deep breaths. While the water heats up, I’m going to go get Natasha and the others. Don’t worry, Tony’s not gonna kick you out.”

She hadn’t even bloody thought of that.

Rose was left alone with her thoughts for several minutes. She was unable to think of anything but an overwhelming guilt that the universe was doomed because she was unable to find the Doctor to save it. Without the cannon, she had no way to reach her home universe and look for him.

Before she realized, Bruce had reentered the room with Natasha and Steve. “We figured it was probably best if we didn’t call in the calvary,” Steve said, walking over and sitting on an armchair opposite Rose. “Tony’s sitting in with Loki, and we let Jane and Darcy sleep.”

Bruce approached Rose with a warm mug of tea, made just the way she liked it. When she looked at him for an explanation, as she had never told him the way she took her tea, he shrugged and said, “I’m good at reading people.”

Natasha’s eyes lingered on him before she turned her attention to Rose. “If SHIELD doesn’t hire you automatically, Tony will. You aren’t out of a job.”  
“That’s not what ‘m worried about,” Rose muttered. “They cancelled the dimension cannon project. They’ll want everything back and they’ll ruin it.”

“We aren’t going to let that happen,” said Steve. “I’m sure Jane and Tony and Bruce will be more than willing to develop their own version of the project and keep working on it. Don’t forget that we’re all invested in it now, too. With the incoming darkness, we need a hero like your Doctor.”

Rose gave him a small smile. “He’d hate that you call ‘im a hero.”

“I don’t know him, but from what you’ve been saying,” Steve continued, “he sounds like a real hero. We could use more of those around here.”

“World’s a nasty place,” said Natasha. “We can’t take care of it all the time.”

Bruce sighed. “What I wouldn’t give to be back in India right now.”

“Oh, please,” Tony’s voice said, making Rose jump, “like you aren’t having the time of your life here.”

“Constantly on edge?” asked Bruce. “Pretty sure I could be doing that anywhere.”

“You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on Loki,” Steve said to Tony, who simply shrugged as a response.

“JARVIS will let me know if something happens.”

“Then it might be too late.”

“Calm down, Cap—“

“Boys,” warned Natasha. They looked at her. “We all know you have testosterone. No need to fight for the most.”

Rose sniffed. She still felt a rock in her stomach and an emptiness inside that she wanted rid of. The tea really was soothing. In that moment, Rose really wanted to call her mother. Though to prove a point, she knew she should wait until it were a reasonable time on both sides of the planet. She had stopped crying, but her eyes felt puffy and painful to keep open. “I’m sorry to bother all of you, but I think I’m going to bed,” she said as she stood.

“I’ll have Pepper draw up a contract in the morning. I’d do it now,” Tony said, “but she locked me out of her room and told JARVIS not to wake her unless he or one of the rest of you deemed it an emergency. Something about lack of respect.”

“Thanks,” Rose whispered. She left the room in silence.

Tony slid his hands into his pockets and said, “It’ll be cool to keep her around for longer now.”

“I don’t think that’s the point,” said Steve.

Bruce exhaled heavily and took off his glasses to clean the lenses. “I don’t think she’s worried about her job. She gets excited to talk about her Doctor friend and if she can’t continue the project, she won’t be able to see him again.”

“So obviously we continue the project,” said Tony, crossing his arms.

“Aren’t there legal ramifications to that?” Steve asked.

“Legal, shmegal. Pepper can find some creative loophole and the rest of us can find our own way to develop the dimension cannon. It’s not like it’s gonna be hard. There are three honest to God geniuses in this building. Hell, we’ll probably get it done faster than those assholes at Torch-dick anyway.”

“Language,” muttered Steve.

Tony heard him, and said, “Sorry grandpa, better go wash my mouth out with soap now. How ‘bout that red stuff in that Christmas movie? Oh, wait; you haven’t seen it.” He grinned at Steve, who rolled his eyes in response.

To change the subject, Bruce asked, “When do you think Thor will get back?”

“Hopefully soon,” Natasha said, a smirk growing on her face. “I could use a good laugh right now. Simply conjuring up a mental image of Thor smashing Stark’s head in with his hammer just isn’t enough anymore.”

Tony frowned and pointed a finger at her. “I personally take offense to that.”

“Mjolnir is not worth beating against the Man of Iron’s head,” a deep voice said, making Tony and Steve jump. Natasha and Bruce grinned and exchanged an amused look with each other. “Are you not surprised to see me?” asked Thor, clapping his large hands on Tony and Steve’s shoulders, making them lurch forward. Behind Thor, someone cleared their throat. “Ah, surprised to see us, that is. My friends, I introduce the Lady Sif, one of my oldest friends and greatest allies.”

“You are too kind, Thor,” Sif said with a smile. “He has shared innumerable stories of your bravery in combat.”

It took Tony a whack on the arm from Bruce to pick his jaw up off the floor. “Dibs on a front row seat when Xena of Asgard and Miss Spider of Sunny Patch fight it out. Maybe on a rainy day. Or a pool.”

“Asgardian warriors demand much respect. Your antics are unappreciated,” said Thor, still with a smile. “Where is my brother?”

“Still unconscious,” Bruce answered, crossing his arms. “He hasn’t shown any change. JARVIS has been monitoring his vitals and we’ve kept someone with him round the clock ever since he had his attack.”

“I think freakout is a better word,” Tony said.

“I wish to see him,” said Sif. Bruce looked to Thor for confirmation. Thor nodded his assent and Bruce motioned for Sif to follow him. “Thank you.”

The walk to the infirmary was quiet. Bruce didn’t know what to say to Thor’s friend. What could be said to someone who could probably take down his alter ego with her bare hands? Bruce didn’t know much about Asgard or its inhabitants, but he did know that they all seemed pretty hardcore.

They reached the white room. Loki’s dark hair stood out against the blank slate of the walls and floor and bedding. A machine beeped out his heart rate and his chest rose and fell with each breath he took. What would it take to wake a god up? Or even worse, what was so torturous to Loki that he would be in a coma just to protect himself?

Sif slowly walked to Loki’s bedside and reached her hand out towards him. She hesitated before touching him, but then lightly touched her fingertips to his forehead. Dragging her fingers across his skin and into his hair, she felt the energy of the room change as Bruce left, presumably to give her privacy. How many years had it been since Sif had been alone with Loki?

She trailed her fingertips along the sharp lines of his face, and let herself feel the slow puffs of air as he breathed. Overall, Sif felt guilt and pity. “Oh, Loki. I’m sorry,” she whispered, though for what she did not know. It was not as if she were responsible for his plunge into madness. But she was not wholly innocent either.

A good amount of time passed before she decided to acknowledge the presence behind her. She could tell it was Thor based on the patterns of his breathing and the feel of the room. Sif had known Thor long enough to be aware of him; she had to be for battle.

She didn’t look at him, but said, “Loki was kind to me. He was reclusive and humble and gentle, unlike you and the Warriors Three. We were friends, secretly, of course. I did not wish to be seen with him. Years passed, our friendship coming and going as all of ours did at times, and then things changed. I do not know what happened, but your brother came to mean more to me than nearly anything. We had the most horrible fights but when we were happy, it was the most joyful feeling in all of the Nine Realms.

“He wanted more than I was willing to give him,” she said, after a pause. “I wanted to be the greatest warrior in all of Asgard. I never cared for a family or saw one in my future. He accused me of loving you, no matter how often I assured him that I loved you only as a brother. Loki cut me off almost entirely. We did not speak for years unless absolutely necessary. And then we made that horrible decision to go to Jotunheim.”

“Dear Sif,” said Thor, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, “you could not have known that Loki would do what he did.”

“No, but I could have been there for him. Instead,” she said, “I defended you and proved every point he had ever argued against me. If I had known he was masquerading as Odin…”

She trailed off, allowing Thor to say, “You would have done your duty to Asgard.”

Sif said nothing for a long moment, then softly murmured, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

* * *

 

Rose looked around, trying to decide where and when she had ended up. Tony had decided that she deserved one more go at the dimension cannon before they had to return it to Torchwood. So Rose had strapped the device to her wrist and allowed the scientists to send her into the unknown.

At least last time she sort of knew where she was.

Rose was fairly certain that this was not Earth, nor was it a planet she had ever visited. Hell, was it even the right universe? There wasn’t a good way to tell. The sky was bright blue with puffy white clouds lazily drifting by. Based on fashion, it was around the near future (relatively speaking), but the people all looked normal, save for some unnatural hair colors.

But—oh, there was a woman with green skin and dark hair. Yes, definitely not Earth in the early twenty-first century.

So where was the Doctor? Rose wasn’t even sure they had locked onto any sort of signal. There was no sign of the TARDIS, not even an inkling in the back of her mind from the ship’s presence. With a sigh, Rose pushed in a code on the dimension cannon.

The sinking feeling in her stomach had nothing to do with the failed mission.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry it has been nearly four months. I could list excuses but I doubt you really care. Anyway, I've finally finished the chapter and I'll be the first to admit it's short. Hopefully I'll have the next one up soon (for real this time). As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments, or just want to chat.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Chapter VIII_

Clint Barton hated the cold. He would much rather be sweating his balls off in a jungle in South America than braving the frozen tundra in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately for Clint, his orders were clear: check on a SHIELD outpost in Luhansk and report on any suspicious activity. Doubly unfortunately for Clint, there was a shit load of suspicious activity.

He wasn’t entirely sure, but heavily armed people walking around the city streets just didn’t seem normal.

But it wasn’t his job to ask questions, just to observe and report. So he sat in the same corner table of the same coffeeshop at the same time every day and tried to pick up the local dialect. Natasha was always so much better at this than he was, and not just because she was originally from Eastern Europe.

His cover was that of a Texan man on sabbatical. Or a mission trip. He hadn’t decided yet. To be honest, he wasn’t one for covers and fake identification. Again, that was way up Nat’s alley. Clint was always more likely to go on a mission that required him to shoot and get out. He preferred heights to being on the ground and had no issue with bunking down in a small area in anticipation of taking the perfect shot.

He sure as hell didn’t speak Ukrainian, but he was fairly certain the women across the cafe were talking about his hair. Clint wasn’t a vain man, but he had spent enough time beside Captain America and Thor to feel slightly self-conscious about his appearance. He awkwardly ran a hand over his head without looking at them.

Clint looked down at his phone and swiped right, combining two 512s to make a 1024. He really wished Darcy hadn’t gotten him addicted to this stupid game. However, it was time consuming and distracting enough to keep his mind off the temperature. He would rather spend a lifetime in the Sahara than twenty minutes in Siberia. But the decision wasn’t up to him, so a few days in cold Ukraine it was.

The bell above the door rang and two teenagers walked in, speaking in rapid Ukrainian or some other Eastern European language Clint didn’t speak. Clint could only pick out a few words and none were alarming, so he tuned them out. Of course, that was a mistake.

The boy leaped over the counter and grabbed the cashier, holding a gun to the man’s temple. The girl, also armed, shouted out instructions to the customers. Based on their reactions, Clint did as he assumed she said and got on the ground. He had his bow and it would be easy enough to take these thugs out, but he was interested in seeing where this would go. Maybe it would give him insight into the strange doings in Luhansk.

While the girl was distracted by a self-proclaimed hero on the other side of the shop _(big mistake, dude)_ , Clint reached for his bow and nocked an arrow to it, ready to fire as soon as he could get a clear shot. The girl kept skirting into his way with her back to him. He wanted to take out the boy first, because if Clint shot the girl, the boy might shoot his hostage.

_What would Nat do?_

Honestly, if he were able to predict what Natasha would do in this situation (or any situation, for that matter), he wouldn’t like her half as much as he did. Nor would she be as good an agent. Never let it be said that Barton didn’t appreciate Natasha’s knack for the element of surprise.

Clint watched and waited, getting antsy, fingers itching to release the arrow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another customer digging around in a backpack. Turning his head from side to side, Clint tried and failed not to be alarmed that everyone was not-so-subtly watching him. It suddenly felt like a trap.

The man looking through the backpack pulled out a silver canister, nothing that Clint recognized—until the man turned it over and Clint saw the label.

“What the actual fuck, man?” he murmured to himself, voice gruff. “Note to self, kick Stark’s ass about a breach in his security.”

The man twisted off the top of the canister and around four seconds later Clint saw black.

* * *

 

Rose pinched the bridge of her nose. “So what you’re sayin’ is, if we can send me through the Void, we should be able to send a _video_ signal.”

“Right,” Tony said, but Bruce said, “Hypothetically.” The men exchanged looks and Tony gave Bruce a glare that kept the other man from arguing. Tony continued, “If we program the signal to go for his ship or whatever we’ve been targeting on the jumps, you should be able to get a message through. There’s no guarantee that it’ll go both ways, so you may or may not be able to see anything. It depends on if there’s a camera on the other end. Same with sound.”

“I still don’t get why we aren’t just trying to send radio waves,” sighed Bruce.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Because when do we ever do things the ‘simple way?’” There was a chuckle from the sofa across the lab, where Natasha was lounging and flipping idly through one of Darcy’s magazines. Eyebrows raised, Tony asked, “Something you want to share with the class, Little Miss Muffet?”

“ _In Touch_ thinks Clint and I are dating again,” she said, turning the glossy page of photographs. “According to an inside source, we are ‘back on in an on-again-off-again relationship that began two years before the Battle of New York. Romanoff and Barton—informally known as _Clintasha_ —are practically inseparable and, based on the lack of photos of Romanoff’s left hand, possibly engaged.’ Who writes this shit?”

Tony held up his hands, a screwdriver waving in the air from his fingers. “I swear I wasn’t the source this time.”

“God, this is hysterical. I gotta text Clint,” she said, pulling out her phone.

Rose smiled sympathetically. “I get so tired of the tabs followin’ me around. They think my friend Mickey and I are dating. We got tired of denyin’ it and since we used to date, we let ‘em think what they want.”

“Yeah,” Natasha said, still typing away on her phone, “but that’s impossible with Clint because he’s—” She cut herself off abruptly, then continued, “Well, he’s impossible.”

A fond grin on his face, Tony said, “I remember the days when I was New York’s most eligible bachelor. But alas, I have settled down into the domestic life. Tied down by man’s greatest ally and enemy: woman. Proverbially chained to—”

“You better watch how you finish that sentence or you might end up back on that list, but with a great exposé on how you _really_ are in a relationship.” They hadn’t heard Pepper enter, but she had obviously heard enough.

Tony spun around faster than Rose would have thought possible. “Pepper! I was just mentioning how much I absolutely adore you, the woman who puts up with me, the woman who takes care of me, the woman who is worth more than twelve percent of my company—”

“Uh-huh,” said Pepper, crossing her arms and raising an amused eyebrow. “You can get back to work. Forget I’m here, just not really.” No one would blame her if she up and left Tony for all the stuff he put her through, but the mirth in her eyes gave away her feelings for him. He would never do anything to compromise their relationship. Not really, anyway.

With a sigh, Rose ran a hand through her hair and said, “Let’s just get this over with and hope it actually works.”

Tony and Bruce exchanged a look. With a barely noticeable sigh, Bruce began keying things into the computer. Rose inhaled and stared directly into the camera. As she saw Tony give her an indication to go ahead and speak, Rose exhaled and began to call out for the Doctor, hoping he would see or hear her. She had no idea where her image and voice would come out on the other side of the Void, or even if the Doctor would ever see her.

Rose felt very exposed shouting for the Doctor to a camera, and was thankful that Tony didn’t laugh at her. She could only hope the TARDIS would receive the message and relay it to the Doctor, or at least reroute the feed to a location where he would see it.

But then it was over, and there was nothing else she could do. Her shoulders slumped, and Rose dropped her chin to her chest.

“Well, that was incredibly awkward,” said Tony. His phone chimed. Before picking it up, he muttered, “If that was Thor telling me about the awesomeness that is emojis one more time…” He stared at the screen. “Oh, shit.” Tony knocked a stack of papers over as he looked around his workstation for the remote control to the television set in the corner. “Where the fuck did I leave it—”

The TV flickered to life and Rose turned to see Natasha holding the remote. Just then, Steve burst into the lab, which probably would have led Stark into a reprogramming of JARVIS at any other time. “The news—”

Rose fixed her eyes on the screen and felt her stomach drop. _“—of metal robots have surrounded Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and the Tower of London. There have been no reported casualties, though seventeen have been injured. Two are in critical condition at Royal Hope Hospital in central London. The British military has been notified and will hopefully be on the scene shortly. Now to Ellen Parks, our CNN correspondent in London. Ellen?”_

The men were silver and struck fear into Rose’s heart. “Cybermen,” she breathed. “They’re s’posed to be gone, not in London. God, my mum. I’ve gotta get back, gotta help—”

“What’s going on?” asked Bruce.

“They’re called Cybermen,” explained Rose. “They’re human—or they used to be. Put ‘em in a suit of armor and take away human emotions, an’ you get these bloody monsters. The Doctor and I fought them a few times. I thought they had all been destroyed. I know the planet was retcon’d after last time, but Torchwood was supposed to have killed ‘em all.”

“Are they alien?” asked Steve, his arms crossed over his chest.

Rose nodded.

“Dangerous?” Natasha had stood and faced Rose, eyebrows raised.

Again, Rose nodded. “They’re gonna kill the planet if I don’t stop them.”

Steve exchanged a look with the others in the room. Tony began fiddling with some equipment on his desk and Bruce took off his glasses. “How fast can we get to London?” he asked Stark, who was doing quick calculations on some scratch paper.

“If I increase the speed by thirteen percent—no, twelve—why couldn’t I have finished the new quinjet prototype sooner?—and reroute some of the wifi potential elsewhere, I’d say we could get there in an hour and a half, hour forty-five, two hours tops.”

Steve nodded. “Banner?”

Cleaning his glasses with a pocket handkerchief, Bruce said, “Too many civilians involved. I’d rather wait as backup if needed.”

With a deep breath, Steve set his eyes on Rose and said, “We’ll help you to the best of our ability.” To the rest of the room he said, “Avengers—”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay again. And I suck at action, so there's not a ton of that. There is, however, lots of snark, foreshadowing, and dropping of hints that will come back into play later. So there's that.
> 
> The next one should (hopefully) be up soon. Enjoy!

_Chapter IX_

Standing in Trafalgar Square, it was easy to remember why Rose left the country in the first place. Surrounded by Cybermen…well, it was even easier.

But with the Avengers beside and behind her, she didn’t feel quite so scared. ‘Course, they’re no Doctor, but still. It was better than being by herself.

The streets were deserted; normal people were hiding from the metal monsters marching around outside. That was fortunate, as it allowed Natasha to land the plane in St. James’s Park. It really was incredible to be standing beside the _Avengers_ —Stark in his Iron Man suit, Steve in his red, white, and blue, Natasha in her black catsuit that Rose could never dream of wearing. Thor and Sif wore their traditional battle garb, looking like something from a film. Bruce waited on the plane to be called in for backup, and Clint hadn’t responded to their calls.

On the short flight across the Atlantic, Stark had found the epicenter of Cyber activity: the National Gallery, hence the close landing. Cybermen poured down the steps, joining with the other troops returning from around the city.

Rose could only hope UNIT was on their way, though considering they had yet to show their faces, she had her doubts. A brief phone call with Mickey told her that Torchwood was dealing with the Cybermen down at Canary Wharf. The military was practically useless, so the Avengers plus Rose Tyler were all the Earth had.

Still, Rose could have used the Doctor.

Rose had spent the plane ride telling the Avengers everything she could about the Cybermen, and now she could only hope they would help her take care of it. As expected, Steve—Captain America—assumed leadership, his shield shining bright against the grey London sky.

In his Authoritative Hero Voice, as Natasha called it, Steve asked, “Rose, do you have any clue on how to kill these creatures?”

Empty fingers itching for the gun Mickey promised to bring her, Rose answered, “Allergic to gold dust—”

“Because there’s tons of _that_ laying around,” interrupted Iron Man’s mechanical voice.

“—and likely to die if hit by energy or laser blasters. Regular bullets don’t do much,” she finished.

“Well, _that’s_ good to know—”

“Stark,” the Captain warned. To the rest of the group he ordered, “Nat, Stark, and myself will go into the Gallery and try to shut down the control system. Rose, keep trying to get hold of your friend so we can get as many weapons as we can. And keep civilians off the streets. Thor, Lady Sif, kick these robots to Valhalla or wherever they go when they die.”

“The gates of Hel shall soon be filled with these fiends,” said Thor, his mighty voice rumbling in their chests. Sif gave a firm nod of assent.

Steve looked at each member of the group as he took a breath and prepared to give the final command. “Let’s teach these RoboCops a lesson.”

Stark sighed. “Who was in charge of the sci-fi portion of The List?”

Under her breath, Sif said to Thor, “I do not understand.” He simply shrugged.

* * *

Enough time had passed into the fight that Natasha knew they needed to move things a long a little more quickly. She caught Steve’s attention and jerked her head towards the Cybermen marching towards them. He threw his shield, cut through one of the metal men, ricochetted off the wall, and returned to his outstretched hand. Steve nodded.

Approaching the oncoming forces, Natasha plucked a few of her Widow’s Bites off her gauntlets. She hoped they didn’t shoot her when she got closer to them. Walking slowly, she grinned at them. “Hey, boys.” Then she launched herself at them, fixing the electric charges to the heads of two and roundhouse kicking a third. As she’d expected, the Cyberman caught her ankle and she cried out in ‘pain.’

Madame had always said that believability was key.

Two more Cybermen grabbed her arms, one on each side, and drug her down where they had come from. “WE HAVE ORDERS TO QUESTION THE HUMAN.”

This was probably going to be the easiest interrogation she’d had in a while.

Natasha forced herself to stumble as she was led into what appeared to be the control room. The surprisingly human man standing in the room watched her and probably didn’t realize that one side of his mouth lifted into a smile. Peace of cake, as Steve would say.

“You don’t look much like a robot,” she said, one eyebrow raising.

The man fully grinned. “I am but a humble servant in the debt of his masters.” He laughed. “Well, master.”

“I don’t think that’s funny,” Natasha said drily.

His smile fell slightly. “It’s one of those ‘you-had-to-be-there’ moments.”

She shrugged. “So if you only work for the Cybermen, how are you still human?”

The grin returned. “I’ve heard about you Miss Romanov,” he said, watching her carefully. “Your usual interrogation tactics won’t work on me.”

Natasha straightened her spine, letting the Widow settle over her skin. She clasped her hands behind her back. “Fair enough. I don’t expect you’re going to tell me who you work for.”

“Correct,” the man said. “I can give you a name, though. Mine, that is: Sebastian.”

“Proper super villain name; I like it.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He watched her, clearly unable to tell if she was playing him or not. _Good_. “So when do I get to meet your boss? These robotic goons of yours will only satisfy a girl for so long before she starts to crave the real thing. And I’m sorry, baby, but you’re starting to bore me.”

“Don’t you worry about it, Miss Romanov,” said Sebastian, “you won’t be here with me much longer.”

“Is that supposed to sound menacing? Because once you’ve faced men who think they’re gods from another world, robots don’t scare me. I’m gonna die, right? Tell me I’m gonna die,” she said.

“We’re all going to die someday, Miss Romanov. That doesn’t mean we’ve overstayed our welcome on this planet or that we won’t be useful in death.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“And you’re trying too hard,” he snapped.

Natasha lifted her head slightly. Touchy. She could use that. She just needed to keep him talking for a few more minutes. “Sorry,” she said, putting some truthful sounds into the two syllables. “Just trying to make conversation. I’m not much of a talker.”

He snorted. “I’ve definitely heard that about you.”

She sighed, “So what’s got you in a bad mood, Sebastian? Isn’t that the whole deal with Cybermen? No emotions?”

“EMOTIONS ARE WEAKNESS. WE FEEL NOTHING,” said one of the Cybermen by the door.

Natasha directed her next statement to them. “You don’t have to tell me twice. But emotions are what make us human. What made _you_ human.”

“WE ARE NOT HUMAN. WE ARE CYBERMEN. HUMANS SHALL BE UPGRADED. THE HUMAN WILL BE UPGRADED.”

“Oi, not now,” said Sebastian with a hint of frustration. “You’d think they would have some more intelligent things to say, but it seems all intelligence was deleted with their emotions. It’s interesting what you have to say on emotions, Miss Romanov. It appears your training was faulty. When did it start to glitch? Baghdad? Sao Paolo? _Budapest_?”

If Natasha hadn’t wanted to punch him in the face before then, she certainly wound now. But she needed more information. The idiot was not as open as she thought he would be; someone had gotten to him first. “I am not a thing you can control. I am not a weapon.”

“Natasha Romanov might not be, but the Black Widow is.”

She rolled her eyes. “Would you like to see a trick?”

Sebastian’s toothy smile returned. “Maybe later. Right now I’ve actually a meeting I’m already late to. Speaking with you was very enjoyable, Miss Romanov.”

“Believe me,” she said, “the pleasure was all mine.”

As soon as the door behind him had closed and locked, she sprang on the nearer of two Cybermen left in the room with her. The other turned to fire, but she used the first as a shield and it died (if robots could really die). She swung her leg up at the other’s head and it knocked clean off, wires ripping as it fell toward the floor, bouncing on the tile. The head’s eyes glowed, so Natasha threw her fist down into it until it stopped.

Once the threats in the room were completely taken care of, she pulled a flash drive out of one of the pouches on her utility belt and shoved it into the nearest USB port, taking a seat while she waited for it to download. She needed the control system, or at least as much of it as she could get. Maybe they could get these monsters to kill each other for them.

She could hear shots outside the door. Steve pushed his way in, iconic shield held before him. His eyes took in the robot pieces surrounding her on the floor. “Took you long enough,” she muttered, accepting the hand he offered to help her up.

“Stark got distracted,” he said instead of an apology. That was good enough for Natasha.

“Typical.” She walked over to the computer bank and yanked out her flash drive, pocketing it and shutting down the monitor. “I hope he at least found some sort of weakness other than gold and electric guns we don’t have.” Though if the right information downloaded, maybe they could take control of the Cybermen from the quinjet.

“You hear from Barton?”

“Not the first time he’s gone AWOL on us,” she said, immediately turning for the door. “You know him. He probably got sucked into some gang war and is currently playing both sides just for the hell of it. He’ll call when he can. Though I’m not saying I agree with the way he uses his time. Think we’re gonna need the Big Guy?”

As they turned a corner, three Cybermen were waiting. Steve flung his shield like a frisbee, decapitating one of them at the midsection joints (or whatever it was holding them together). Natasha ran towards the closest one and jumped on its torso where it couldn’t shoot her. She yanked the head off like the ones back in the lab. By the time she’d severed the wiring, Steve had taken care of the third Cyberman.

“Let’s get out of here before more show up,” said Steve. Natasha nodded and the pair ran down the blank and surprisingly empty corridors. “To answer your previous question,” he continued, not even sounding winded, which was always a source of contention for the other Avengers, “I think we’re doing fine right now. Rose got that gun from her friend Mickey, and they, along with a few other of their friends, are taking care of as many as they can. Stark should be around here somewhere—Turns out his energy laser blasters do a number on the Cybermen.”

“Don’t let him hear you call them that,” Natasha laughed. After a second, she added, “Old man.”

“One of these days, Romanov…”

She smiled to herself as they ran. “What are you going to do? Beat me at shuffleboard?” She paused. “Hey, you know Rhonda from Stark’s PR? Eighteenth floor?”

“Uh, yeah,” replied Steve. “What about her?”

“She’d probably go out with you if you asked.” They turned another corner and a single Cyberman stood ahead with its back to them. Steve flung his shield at it. The Cyberman fell, and Steve picked his shield up off the floor. “That thing is a glorified frisbee, Rogers. I cannot believe a toy is worth millions of taxpayer dollars.”

“Like you pay taxes.”

“Excuse me, I am an American citizen. And government employees can’t commit tax evasion very easily, especially when you have Captain Fucking America as a friend.” They continued on, the double doors to the outside world within sight. “Anyway. Rhonda.”

“Nat, she’s, like, sixty.”

She spread her hands out. “Okay, I guess thirty years is a bit too much of an age gap. How do you feel about ten years? Though I don’t know many single eighty-year old women.”

Natasha thought she heard him huff, “Is this actually happening to me?” and laughed as she pushed the door open and stepped into the sun. Seeing them, Stark flew down to them. Natasha pulled out the drive and handed it over to him. “Get this to Banner. Maybe we can kill these things remotely.”

“Or, you know,” Stark said, “I can do it from my handy dandy suit that happens to have a built in computer. Don’t worry, JARVIS, I’m sure the scary lady hasn’t forgotten about you.”

“Shut up, Stark,” she said, rolling her eyes.

Across the square, Thor swung his mighty hammer at one of the Cybermen and sent it careening into a light pole. He seemed to be doing a pretty good job of fighting these things by himself. Sif was beside him, running each through with her sword (glaive, Natasha corrected herself) which proved to be nearly as effective.

“Come on, JARVIS, tell me what we got,” Stark said.

The AI replied, _“I can remotely power the Cybermen off, if you would like, sir.”_

“Yeah, that sounds peachy.”

_“Very well.”_ And then the Cybermen all stopped moving. Thor, it appeared, had not quite realized what happened and kept swinging away at them.

Tony sighed, the faceplate of his suit retracting so they could see his face. “Well, that was easy. Is there a self-destruct button or something? If I created an army of robots that had the chance to go rogue, I’d put in a self-destruct button.”

* * *

In the aftermath of the fight, while the Avengers were taking care of the remaining (frozen) Cybermen with the help of UNIT, Rose stood with Mickey beneath Nelson’s Column. “Y’sure y’can’t just stay here?” asked Mickey, half-sitting on one of the posts that kept cars from driving up onto the monument. “Your mum would like it.”

Rose sighed and shook her head, squinting in the sun. “There’s more for me to do at SHIELD. I’m still tryin’ to get back to the Doctor. ‘sides—Torchwood don’t want me anyway.”

“Oh,” stiffened Mickey, “that reminds me.” He reached into a pocket in the inner lining of his jacket and pulled out an envelope. “Formal apology from the director of the Torchwood Institute and a request to end your sabbatical.”

“Sabbatical?” Rose scoffed. “That’s what they’re callin’ it. Figures.” She stared at the envelope, her name printed neatly in the center. “What d’you think, Mick?”

He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I dunno. They were bloody rotten to you, but it’d be nice to have you back here. Or at least able to email you stuff without lookin’ over my shoulder.”

With a snort, Rose said, “I’d probably still be in New York for a while. Technically I’m still liaising or whatever the hell ‘m s’posed to be doing.” She paused, looked back at the team that were cleaning up Cybermen limbs and playing around. “They’re good people—”

“I mean, they are the bleedin’ Avengers.”

“—and I think they can help me get back to the Doctor faster than Torchwood.” She looked her best friend in the eyes and said, “You know I love you and Mum, Mickey, but I’ve got’a get back to him.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know.” Offering her a smile and open arms, Mickey pulled Rose into a hug and watched her new friends start a sword fight with Cyber arms. He chuckled. “Looks like Iron Man is takin’ parts.”

Rose groaned into his chest. “He better not. Pepper’ll kill ‘im if he brings back more technical shit.” She pulled away from him and said, “I think I’ll take the job with Torchwood. I don’t trust them, even if Pete is the head. But it’ll be good to have the resources and the authority. Though I wanna keep ‘em in the dark about the progress we’re makin’ with the dimension cannon. Torchwood don’t need that kind of tech.”

“Oi, Rosey!” shouted Stark in a painfully awful London accent. “We’re heading off across the Pond, poppet! Are you coming with us?”

“Yeah!” she responded, then returned her attention to Mickey. “Give Mum my love and tell her I’ll call her soon, yeah?”

Mickey dropped his head back and raised his fists dramatically. “Rose, your mum is gonna _kill_ me for letting you leave the bloody city without seein’ her.”

“You’ll live. Mickey Smith faced Daleks _and_ Cybermen. He can face Jackie Tyler.”

“I’d rather take the Dalek Emperor,” he muttered.

“See ya, Mick,” she said, raising on her tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his cheek before running off to catch up with the Avengers.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry for the delay. There's really no excuse. However, I think I'm at the point now where I've got the motivation to work on this and I've reached a point in the narrative where things will be much easier to write quickly. I've also reworked my outline a bit, which should be evident in this chapter. There will be three more chapters in "Act I," followed by a second act, and then a third. I've also developed a plan for an entire 'verse based on things that have been planned for later on in this narrative. As I've denoted above, there will be 25 chapters of this.
> 
> Now, please enjoy this chapter and know that we will return to the regular action soon!

_Chapter X_

Loki knew he was unconscious. He had long since pieced together what was going on. This place was a state of mind. Not concrete. Clara was a figment of his imagination, as brilliant and unique as she was, as solid and real as she claimed to be. She was a source of entertainment that his subconscious created to help him cope with the trauma of being trapped within his own mind.

He was alone, and his mind created a companion to keep him from going mad.

He was alone.

Until he wasn’t.

“Clara?” he called out, feeling the presence of another in his realm, his purgatory.

“Not this time,” said a voice. Different, lower, more mature. She steps out of the shadows, dressed much more freely than Clara, with leather and wild hair. “It’s just me.”

Loki appraised her with a raised eyebrow. “And what has my deranged mind decided to call you? Where is the other one?”

“Clara couldn’t make it today. She asked me to come entertain you and possibly help you out. I think she’s a little busy trying to keep Christopher Columbus from killing Genghis Khan. Or something like that. And I’m me.”

He was growing frustrated with every word she said. “Your name?”

“I told you,” she barked. “Me.”

“Me?”

“Me,” she repeated. “I am myself. Singular, unattached, alone. Not so much anymore, but I like the sound of it. The sound of Me.” The girl grinned. “I suppose you could say that Clara Oswald and I are _companions_. We stole a TARDIS and have been traveling the universe, avoiding a certain planet. We’ll have to go back eventually, though. Everyone faces the raven in the end.”

Drily, Loki asked, “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

She—Me—smiled, a tight thing stretched across her young face (a face that had eyes that did not match her apparent youth). “I’m one of the oldest beings in the universe. I rather like being an enigma. So no, I don’t expect you to understand the raven’s significance. Who exactly are you anyway? Clara just told me to be here and help you get out.”

Loki pressed the tips of his fingers to his temples, massaging gently. This was going to be very annoying if his imagination kept conjuring up ridiculous scenarios to entertain him. He would rather be alone, or at least with some imaginary version of Sif. (That thought alone was enough to make him stop and look at Me again; he did not need to be thinking about _her_ at a time like this.) “I am Loki, of no realm in particular.”

“Like the Loki of Asgard?” He raised an eyebrow. Me shrugged. “Apparently I was a Viking, once upon a time. When you’re as old as I am, your own life begins to become a bit of a fairytale. So how the hell did you end up here, and friends with Clara?”

“This is my punishment for being a monster,” said Loki. “You and Clara are figments of my imagination, creatures brought into being by my deranged mind.”

Me rolled her eyes. “Don’t flatter yourself by thinking you could create _me.”_

“And what is your understanding of this situation?”

“Clara said you were a friend who needed help. And I’ve grown tired of following around a bunch of Conquistadors in funny hats. So I supposed I’m doing my ‘civic duty’ to the universe by being here.”

Loki crossed his arms and began to pace a few steps in each direction. “You said that you were planning on helping me to escape from this Purgatory. How do you propose to do that if this is a realm created by me?” Back and forth, disturbing the brown dust beneath his feet.

She barked out a laugh. “Easy. A prison is only a prison if you believe it to be true.” Me reached out, grabbed his hand, and pulled. At first, it would appear that nothing had happened, but then Loki blinked and everything had changed. “Never doubt the power of determination.”

He was lying on his back in an uncomfortable bed, with what felt like a needle in his arm, wires taped to his chest beneath an itchy gown. What in Hel…. The walls and ceiling were white and Me was sitting on a chair beside him with her legs crossed at the knee, looking quite bored.

“Now,” she said, “by my estimation, we have about thirty-five hours to make it to the rendezvous point where I’m to meet up with Clara. From there, you are more than welcome to do whatever the bloody hell you want. I’ve got a date with Robespierre. Love a good beheading. So let’s hurry; I have it on good authority that the Tower will be mostly empty of inhabitants for another forty-five minutes.”

Me got to work unhooking him from all of the machines. “Are we on Midgard?” he asked. She nodded, yanking the needle from the crook of his arm without warning or gentleness. “By the Norns, you—” Loki cut himself off at the glare he received. When Me reached for the wires fixed to his chest, Loki swatted her hand away and did removed them himself. Once he was free, Loki pushed aside the blanket that had been covering him and swung his legs off the bed that creaked beneath him.

When he tried to stand, Loki wavered and nearly fell over. Caught by Me, Loki nearly snarled and pushed her away, but recognized the fact that he likely could not stand without her.

As if she were reading his thoughts, Me said, “Your muscles have atrophied. Do you know how long you’ve been like this?”

“I do not know.” Hobbling down the hall, they passed a window. Based on how the leaves on the trees looked, it had either been nearly no time at all since he was last on Midgard, or quite some time. As Me pressed the button for the lift, Loki gritted his teeth and asked, “How did a simple Midgardian manage to get in my head after all?”

Me gave him one of her death glares that he suspected would be a common occurrence. “Who said I was simple? I’m probably as old as you are. And I’ve had some interesting training.” The lift doors opened with a chime.

Leaning against the rail while Me pressed the button labeled ‘LG,’ Loki spat, “If I find you’ve been working with Thanos, you vain harpy, I will personally rip—”

Once again, she shot him a look out of the side of her eyes. “Thanos? There’s no way in hell I would ever work with that bastard. And who are you calling _vain?”_

Loki lurched as the lift began its rapid descent, his stomach floating and head swimming. Me was quiet, eventually looking away from him. Her arms were folded across her chest, hair falling into her eyes. She looked far younger than she implied with her words. Moments later, a mechanized female voice droned, “ _Lower garage_.”

The doors opened, and Loki and Me stepped out. The garage was full of Midgardian vehicles that Thor had once been fond of, mostly black or dark grey. Me swiped a set of keys from a wall of hooks and pressed a button that caused a vehicle several spaces down from them to beep and flash its lights.

As they approached the automobile and pulled open the doors, Me said, “For an international corporation with one of the largest employee forces and media attention, Stark Industries has really shitty security.” As if to prove a point, the booth where a security guard was meant to sit and watch for intruders was left vacant. If Loki had been looking at her, he suspected she would have rolled her eyes at the sight.

They drove for a bit, disturbed by the surprisingly small amount of traffic. Though he had spent little time on Midgard, Loki knew that New York City was known for its Hel-ish gridlock. Tapping his long fingers against the glass of the window, Loki asked, “Where are we going anyway?”

Me glanced at him quickly before returning her attention to the road. “London, of course,” she answered. “Center of the universe.”

_Indeed._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an excuse, I swear. It goes something like this: I graduated college, moved cross-country, underwent serious job training, began said job, got salmonella. But I'm alive! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and all that. 
> 
> The cool thing about my job is that I work in a different state than I reside in, so that leaves little time for writing. I'm working on it.
> 
> So here's this chapter. Some of it will seem familiar, some of it will seem trippy. There's a point for everything, and it will all make sense eventually. So, um, enjoy!

_Chapter XI_

It had worked.

By golly, by Jove, by the Mighty Jagrafess, it had actually _worked_.

There was a star in the sky.  An unnatural white star with spikes and what seemed like an electric webbing, hovering over the Thames and _God_ , this was so, _so_ right.  The air was right, the ground was right, the stars and the streetlights and the voices were _right_.

Rose Tyler had returned.

And if there was some sort of alien contraption in the sky above London, England, that of all places is where she knew she would find the Doctor.  She ran.

(While running, she felt a shift in the universe and things suddenly felt _less right_.)

It didn’t take her long to reach a military barricade, so she lifted her chin and walked slowly, purposefully.  One could walk anywhere one wanted if one possessed the attitude to get away with it (a valuable lesson she had learned from the Doctor).  Men and women in military uniforms meandered, the lights of emergency vehicles blinking all around her.

Rose didn’t know why, but she was compelled to look up in the distance, where some paramedics were pushing a sheet-covered gurney.  Stomach sinking, Rose took off at a sprint, watching as an arm slipped and a slender, silver object fell to the ground.  _The sonic screwdriver_.  And that pin-striped sleeve, that hand.

Her heart leapt to her throat.

There was a woman with red hair ahead.  As the gurney was moved away, Rose ran towards the scene.  (While running, she felt another shift in the universe and suddenly things felt _wrong_.)  “What happened?  What did they find? I’m sorry, did they find someone?”

The woman sort of shrugged and said, “I don’t know.  A bloke called the doctor, or something.”

“Well, where is he?”  Because that couldn’t have been him.  That was impossible.

The woman—she seemed so familiar, but not—said, “They took him away.  He’s dead.  I’m sorry—did you know him?  I mean, they didn’t say his name.  Could be any doctor.”

Rose’s heart sank down into her stomach.  “I came so far.”

“It—it could be anyone.”

_So familiar, and wrong._   To the woman, Rose asked, “What’s your name?”

“Donna.  And you?”

_Wrong_.  There was movement behind the woman, something on her back.  Maybe there was a perception filter, because while Rose wanted to look, she just couldn’t.  “Oh, I was just passing by.  I shouldn’t even be here,” she explained, trying to see that which she couldn’t.  “This is wrong.  It’s wrong _._ This is so wrong.”  _Focus_.  “Sorry, what was it?  Donna what?”

Donna frowned.  “Why do you keep looking at my back?”

Quickly, Rose responded, “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” Donna argued.  “You keep looking behind me.  You’re doing it now!  What is it?  What’s there?  Did someone put something on my back?”  She tried turning around to look at her own back, and Rose felt the familiar fading as she was pulled from the universe.

* * *

 

Loki walked the streets, dressed in attire similar to when he had taken over that museum in Stuttgart, but less formal.  His hair was slicked back, his hands grasped a paper map that seemed to be outdated.  Me had left him with only two hints: go to the Starbucks nearest Charing Cross and order a grande pumpkin spice latte with extra whip.

Bumbling around in a way that he had never done before, Loki was not used to the amount of sound surrounding him.  It was still strange to consider himself alive, but especially so to be walking the streets of Midgard freely.  He felt the need to continually look over his shoulder.  Where had his assuredness gone?

Finally, he saw the logo that he had grown familiar with a lifetime ago.  (The archer had a certain fondness for coffee.)  Loki took a deep breath and reached to open the door.  Just as his fingertips brushed the handle, the door swung open and a woman walked directly into him, spilling a hot beverage down his front—or nearly, had he not the foresight to jump backwards.  “Oh, for God’s sake—” the woman huffed, then Loki saw who it was.

“Clara,” he breathed, reaching out to grab her arms, to prove it really was her.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and then narrowed.  “Do I know you?”  Her voice was different.  She sounded American, like those Avengers that Thor had become acquainted with (and wasn’t that a thought—being in the same realm as his not-brother once more).

Loki frowned and said, “Do you not recognize me in this attire?”

“Sorry, man,” she said, “I think you got me confused with someone else.”

Ignoring her, figuring it was because they were in public and he could very well be a fugitive considering his track record with the Midgardian authorities, Loki firmly said, “Did you ever find your doctor?”

Not-Clara raised her eyebrow.  “Doctor who?”

Loki took a step back.  Maybe he _was_ confused.  His Clara most definitely did not speak like an American, and she certainly would have responded to his question with a better answer.  “Never mind,” he said quickly.  “I am very sorry to have bothered you.”

She made a sound low in her throat, nearly like a growl.  “Yeah, well now I have no coffee and I’m gonna be late to work.  Just peachy.”  She rolled her eyes and stepped past him, shivering as she brushed his arm with her shoulder.  Not-Clara stepped to the curb, looked both ways, and walked into the street.

The car came out of nowhere.

It was an accident, really. 

* * *

Rose landed in London again.  But it was wrong. She could feel it in the air. Something was still different in the universe. There had been a shock and a flash, and she was sprinting across the street to let out the energy of being thrust across the Void.

After her last jump, Stark had provided her with a mobile that would (hopefully) pick up the mobile network of this universe.  She would be able to do research and find out what was happening with the stars and the universe that the Doctor had left.

Behind her, a voice called, "Blimey! Are you alright? What was that, fireworks or...?"

She did the best she could under the circumstances: she lied. "I don't know. I was just walking along. That's weird."

"You're the one!" the ginger woman exclaimed, pointing a finger at Rose. "Christmas Eve. I met you in town."

"Donna, isn't it?" Well, of course.  It’s not like she could have forgotten in the six hours since she last saw the woman.  Obviously, time had passed here.  She checked the date on the mobile: spring 2007.  Four hours ago, she had been in 2009.  It was a good thing she did a little research on extraterrestrial occurrences while waiting for the cannon to start back up.  Maybe she could do a little good while she was here.

"What was your name?" asked Donna.

Rose was quick to deflect the question back on the other woman. "How're you doing? You're looking good. How's things? What have you been up to?" She pasted on a smile, trying not to seem too disturbed by the thing that was still on Donna's back.

Donna was not amused or distracted by Rose's efforts. "You're doing it again.”

"What?" Rose asked, crossing her arms and willing herself to relax. She played dumb; it was the only sensible thing to do—at least, that’s what Agent Romanoff had said when briefing Rose.

"Looking behind me," Donna said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Honestly, Rose felt bad for the woman; it couldn't be easy having everyone looking behind her all the time like there was some sort of monster behind her. "People keep on doing that, looking at my back."

"What sort of people?" She needed to stall for time, needed to think of what the Doctor would do if he were here. Of course, he wasn't here because in this universe he was dead!  Why did the cannon only want to send her to this universe?

Donna seemed nervous when she answered, "People in the street. Strangers. I catch them sometimes, staring at me. Like they're looking at something. And then I get home, and I look, and there's nothing there. See? Look, now I'm doing it!"

_Change course, Rose._ "What are you doing for Christmas?"  She plastered another fake smile across her face.  _Save her life, Rose,_ she reprimanded herself. Next Christmas would be the  _Titanic_ ; she could save Donna and her family.  There had to be some reason she kept running into this woman.

"What am I what?"

"Next Christmas," Rose repeated calmly. "Any plans?"

Donna shrugged and rolled her eyes. "I don't know. That's ages away. Nothing much, I suppose. Why?"

"Just, I think you should get out, you and your family. Don't stay in London. Just leave the city."

"What for?"

"Nice hotel Christmas break?"

"Can't afford it."

"Well, no, you got that raffle ticket," she reminded Donna, unsure of where that knowledge came from.  Thinking about it made her head hurt.  Is this what the Doctor always felt like? Having so much prior knowledge of how the future was going to go and hinting that people should do something to keep themselves safe, but unable to elaborate because that could change everything? No wonder he was mad.

"How do you know about that?"

The best thing she could would be to disregard the question, move straight towards the benefits. "First prize, luxury weekend break. Use it, Donna Noble."

She seemed more angry and frustrated than ever. "Why won't you tell me your name?”  Then, “I think you should leave me alone." With that, Donna turned around and walked away. Shaking her head, Rose pressed the button again in an attempt to return to her home universe, disappearing in a flash of light.

* * *

 

_She heard a scream in the distance.  She heard the plunking music from the slightly out-of-tune piano in the ballet studio accompanied with the sound of feet landing on the floor, followed by commands to land softly.  She heard the grunts of pain from within the gymnasium.  She heard the blood throbbing in her own ears._

_She walked into Madame’s office.  The stern woman was sitting behind her desk, paperwork covering the wood.  Her brown hair was pulled into a severe bun, as it always was, her icy eyes staring Natalia down as she stepped into the room._

_“We have an assignment for you, Natalia Alianovna,” said Madame.  She slid a file across the desk toward Natalia.  Upon first glance, it seemed to be a short mission, a simple assassination.  Nothing was ever as it seemed.  “Send a message.”_

Natasha woke.

* * *

 

One more jump left her on a dirty street corner with military men standing around in every direction. The dark seemed to comfort her more now than ever before; in darkness, there was anonymity. But not from everyone.

"Hello," said Donna Noble.

"Hi," Rose replied. They made small talk for a bit, but mostly walked in silence until they reached a park and could sit on an empty bench with no one in sight. "It's the ATMOS devices," she explained. "We're lucky, it's not so bad here. Britain hasn't got that much petrol. But all over Europe, China, South Africa, they're getting choked by gas."

"Can't anyone stop it?"

Rose nodded.  Again, she knew information she shouldn’t. "Yeah, they're trying right now, this little band of fighters on board the Sontaran ship. Any second now." Right on cue, the sky lit up in a flash of fire and burning gas. It only lasted a second before burning itself out and dissipating, leaving the stars as clear as ever.

"And that was?" Donna trailed off, begging for an answer.

"That was the Torchwood team. Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, they gave their lives. And Captain Jack Harkness has transported to the Sontaran home world. There's no one left."

Donna finally addressed something that had obviously been on her mind. "You're always wearing the same clothes. Why won't you tell me your name?"

"None of this was meant to happen," Rose said, just as much to Donna as to herself, realizing the truth as she spoke with authority. "There was a man. This wonderful man, and he stopped it. The  _Titanic_ , the Adipose, the ATMOS, he stopped them all from happening."

"That Doctor?"

She nodded. "You knew him.”  How could she know that?

"Did I?" asked Donna. "When?"

"I think you dream about him sometimes. It's a man in a suit. Tall, thin man. Great hair. Some  _really_  great hair," she blushed, thinking about how many years she had dreamed about running her hands through his hair.

"Who are you?"

"I was like you," she said. "I used to be you. You've travelled with him, Donna. You've travelled with the Doctor in a different world."

"I never met him, and he's dead," Donna said sadly, but with just a hint of thinking that Rose might be the crazy one.

Rose continued on, "He died underneath the Thames on Christmas Eve, but you were meant to be there. He needed someone to stop him, and that was you. You made him leave. You saved his life."

She watched as Donna's eyes slammed shut and she started shaking her head, plagued with a flashback of a path she had never taken, not in this world. "Stop it," she told Rose. "I don't know what you're talking about. Leave me alone."

"Something's coming, Donna," Rose warned. "Something worse."

"The whole world is stinking. How can anything be worse than this?"

Rose set her jaw. "Trust me, we need the Doctor now more than ever. I've been pulled across from a different universe because every single universe is in danger. It's coming, Donna. It's coming from across the stars and nothing can stop it." As she spoke, Rose began to wonder if it wasn't just the Daleks she was talking about. She knew that it couldn't be anything else because she didn't know of anything else, but she felt the faint tingling of something she could only describe as a premonition. It wasn't a comfortable feeling to have.

"What is?"

"The darkness." Well, that was a bit more dramatic than was probably needed.

Donna easily grew angry again; that seemed to be quite a character trait of hers. "Well, what do you keep telling me for? What am I supposed to do? I'm nothing special. I mean, I'm-I'm not. I'm nothing special. I'm a temp. I'm not even that. I'm nothing!"

Hearing Donna say those awful things about herself broke Rose's heart. Donna Noble was so much more than that, and listening to her degrade herself was more than Rose could bear. It was sad, but she used to be the same way until she met the Doctor and learned that she could be so much more than just a shop girl. "Donna Noble," she said with a smile, "you're the most important woman in the whole of creation."

"Oh, don't," Donna pleaded, shaking her head. "Just don't. I'm tired. I'm so tired."

Time to get to business. Rose had spent a few days at UNIT, preparing them for the impending apocalypse, readying everything she might need to get home. "I need you to come with me.”

"Yeah. Well, blonde hair might work on the men, but you ain't shifting me, lady," Donna said, voice full of snark and sass that couldn't help but make Rose smile.

"That's more like it!”  _But how could she know that?_

"I've got plenty more."

"Then you'll come with me, only when you want to."

"You'll have a long wait, then."

"Not really," Rose said.  "Just three weeks. Tell me, does your grandfather still own that telescope?”  _But how did she_ know _that?_

"He never lets go of it."

Rose nodded once. "Three weeks' time. But you've got to be certain. Because when you come with me, Donna...sorry. I'm so sorry, but you're going to die.”

* * *

 

Shaken, Loki made his way to New York.  It was a simple spell that he had performed a thousand times, but it seemed to take more effort now than it ever had before.  And it was strange: he blacked out and awoke in a hospital bed facing down his enemies and their guns.

And Thor was there.  “Brother,” he said, a grin turning his lips.  “It is good to see you awake.”

There was a needle in his arm.  Uncomfortable with it, Loki reached to pull it out, but a gentle hand stopped him.  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said the man who became the monster.  “You’re dehydrated and we’re monitoring your vitals.  You’ve been unconscious for a long time.”

“What happened?” asked Loki.

“You tell us,” ordered Agent Romanoff.  Loki knew her far more than the others due to Agent Barton’s intimate knowledge of her.  “Your brother says you had been posing as Odin when Asgard was attacked.”

Looking between each of their faces, Loki finally said, “There are many greater things at play than you realize.  May I ask—what happened to Clara Oswald?”

The Avengers looked between each other, unsure, until the captain shrugged.  Agent Romanoff murmured, “I’m on it,” and then left the ward.  

The others were silent for a while, and Loki began to drift off.  Thor looked concerned, but then the doctor said, “Don’t worry.  I’m giving him a sedative.”

And Loki fell into a sleep far calmer than he had had in years.

* * *

 

Rose led Donna back to the UNIT base.  Her heart felt heavy for this world, as wrong as it was.  There was nothing she could do for it.  Donna Noble would die to right the wrongs, and the universe would be no more.  Then the prime universe would be protected once again.  At least until the stars began going out there.  How much longer did Pete’s World have?

Officer Magambo (as Rose had learned, having been in this universe consistently for a week now) saluted Rose as she and Donna passed.  “I’ve told you,” Rose said, “don’t salute.”  No wonder the Doctor hated it.

The woman huffed.  “Well, if you aren’t going to tell us your name…”

Rose ignored the UNIT official and walked to a console within the warehouse.  Donna followed but continued to speak with Magambo.  “What, you don’t know either?”

Shaking her head, Rose explained, “I’ve crossed too many different realities.  Trust me, the wrong word in the wrong place can change an entire causal nexus.”  And didn’t she know that.

Donna looked to Magambo, who simply said, “She talks like that _a lot_.  And you must be Miss Noble.”

“Donna,” she corrected.

In turn, the official said, “Agent Erisa Magambo.  Thank you for this.”

“I don’t even know what I’m doing,” Donna admitted.  Rose felt for her.

To Magambo, Rose asked, “Is it awake?”

“Seems to be quiet today,” she answered.  “Ticking over, like it’s waiting.”  They looked over to the TARDIS, its blue exterior calming to Rose.  She ached for its warm presence in her mind. 

“Do you want to see it?” Rose asked Donna.

Donna, studying the blue box, looked confused. “What’s a police box?”

Not a bad question, but not one Rose was willing to go into.  Instead, she said, “They salvaged it from underneath the Thames.  Just go inside.”

“What for?”

_Everything._ “Just go in.”

With that, Donna walked in. “No way.” Walked out.  Looked around the box.  Walked in.  Walked out.

Rose smiled. “What do you think?”

Donna sighed. “Can I have a coffee?”

Later, in the TARDIS, Rose explained, “Time and Relative Dimensions in Space.  This room used to shine with light.  I think it’s dying.”  Sad, she stroked the time rotor, which moved a little.  Sadder, “Still trying to help.”

Donna looked around and Rose wondered what her first experience with the TARDIS was like.  “And—and it belonged to the Doctor?”

“He was a Time Lord,” Rose answered.  “Last of his kind.”

“But if he was so special, what was he doing with me?”

Donna’s words were almost worse than a world without the Doctor.  “He thought you were brilliant,” Rose said, wishing Donna would just believe it.

“Don’t be stupid,” she scoffed.

“But you are,” pressed Rose.  “It took the Doctor to show you that, simply by being with him.  He did the same to me, to everyone he touches.”  _It’s a gift, really._

Rose saw Donna watching her carefully, seeing her in a different light.  “Were you and him…”

She stroked Donna’s shoulder, thinking about the thing on the woman’s back.  “Do you want to see it?”

“No,” Donna said.  “Go on, then.”

They went on.  Donna saw the creature on her back.  She voluntarily went back to change the past, to change the future.  She turned right.

But when she found herself lying on the asphalt of Ealing Road, Donna understood what the blonde woman meant when she said that Donna was going to die.  To Rose, Donna’s death meant life.  She knelt in the street beside Donna and said, “Tell him this.  Two words.”  And whispered, “ _Bad wolf_.”

* * *

 

When Loki woke, a familiar but hazy form was seated in the chair beside his bed.  His vision cleared and he took in the strange sight.  Wearing Midgardian attire, Sif was waiting patiently for Loki to wake.  She turned a page in the book she held, unaware that he was awake.  Loki watched her for a moment, then cleared his throat with a small, “Hem.”

She jumped and looked up at him.  “You’re awake.”

“You’re in Midgard,” he countered.  “And dressed as a mortal.”

Sif looked down at herself.  “I will admit that these clothes are far more comfortable than some of our own.  One of Thor’s mortal friends brought these to me.”

Loki looked her over.  “You could wear a sack and still be the most beautiful woman in all of the Nine Realms.”

Sif flushed and looked down, closing the book and letting it rest on her lap.

“What is the book?”

She ran her fingers over the cover, a picture that Loki could not discover from his angle, and answered, “ _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone_.  I’ve been told it’s a classic, about a boy who discovers he is a wizard and finds his place in the world.  So far, it seems childish.  But I hear they grow far more interesting.”

“Why are you here, Sif?”

Time passed before she offered an answer.  “There is a conversation we have been avoiding for a very long time, Loki.”

“Let’s avoid it a bit longer.”

“Alright.”

 


End file.
